The Vigilante
by Linkindarkness
Summary: Kakashi befriends the least likely of people, inexplicably leading to a fundamental change that would affect all of Konoha. Right now, his goal is to bridge a connection between the Uchiha Clan and the village, hoping to end the conflict for good. In turn, this might be the key to pull Kakashi out of his depression and suffering.
1. The Birthday

"Hey, Kakashi, you ought to take a break from your ANBU duties tonight." Gai's infamous green jumpsuit and wide-toothed grin flashed before the sullen ninja. The two of them were walking along the streets of Konoha while the sun was setting.

Correction, Kakashi was walking to his apartment when Gai discovered and trailed him. He hadn't been able to shake him off since, not that he put much effort into it.

The tall, white-haired ninja shifted his mask slightly, grunted, and continued to walk home.

Unfortunately for him, Gai was having none of his ignoring. "You! Come on, Kakashi! Today is your birthday. What else could you possibly have to do at the moment?"

Hesitantly, Kakashi paused in his steps. He glanced down at the cat-shaped mask in his one hand, and a satchel in his other. He had spent the whole day running errands for ANBU in preparation for a mission. Tired, he shook his head at Gai.

"It's been a busy day. I'll pass."

Ecstatic, Gai nearly jumped out of his skin. Instead of letting Kakashi enter his apartment building, he pulled the other ninja so suddenly that Kakashi was nearly knocked off his feet. "This is the first time you've ever responded to any request! Hurrah! I'm going to take this as a positive sign. Let's go celebrate!"

Kakashi's mask and supplies had fallen to the ground. He shook the other male off his shoulders, pulling a face of regret. "And do what?" he asked suspiciously.

An hour later, Kakashi found himself sitting in the middle of the downtown marketplace at a table. Gai had forcibly dragged him to sit with Kurenai, Asuma, Iruka, and a couple of other ninja students that Kakashi remembered were from the same year as him in the Academy. They had ordered lots of meat, alcohol, and cake.

He ate his share of food and watched as Gai amusedly chatted up a storm with the others. Kakashi normally wouldn't have stayed put longer than a few minutes with this company. He normally wouldn't have sat or acknowledged them at all. But Kakashi was exhausted and that was the only reason he obliged that day to Gai's antics. Perhaps if he gave in just once, then Gai would leave him alone for a while.

"Ey, Kakashi. Happy birthday. You're now officially of age." Asuma raised up a glass and gave him a side glance. "You don't know how much we all respect and look up to you as a shinobi."

Kakashi turned his eye away. He wasn't sure how to respond to him. Contrarily, he knew what he wanted to say; Kakashi would have pointed out that he was a terrible ninja that could neither protect his friends or teacher. But that would have ruined the mood of the table. Across the table, Kurenai was laughing with Gai about a mission they had done together.

But Kakashi didn't end up saying anything because it wasn't worth the effort. He stayed at the table to eat and drink for a few more minutes, all the while devising a plan to sneak away while they were chatting. He would rather go home and get some rest.

"Oh, is that a cat trying to get into the rice patties?"

"Get it away!"

There was an instant ruckus within the restaurant as workers started shouting wildly. The moment everyone's attention focused on the commotion near the front of the restaurant, Kakashi dashed off.

He jumped out of the restaurant's window and into a back alley of the marketplace. He walked coolly towards the marketplace, patting his arms and legs. When Kakashi turned the corner, he came face to face with a tall individual with silver white hair. This figure's face was covered in a mask, and his headband drooped slightly to cover his left eye.

"Worked like a charm." Kakashi snapped his fingers and the shadow clone, which had planted the cat, disappeared. "They can't leave now, they just ordered another plate. Oh?" He noticed somebody staring at him.

Kakashi turned his head to see a small boy with spiky blonde hair peak out from behind a marketplace stand. He was short and scrawny but hard to miss in a crowd. Oddly enough, he was alone at that time of night. But he didn't seem to care or be frightened by it. He held an ice cream cone in one hand.

A beat skipped in his chest. Kakashi knew instantly that this was his sensei's son, Naruto. It was the hair that gave it away. Upon closer observation, he also noticed that the boy contained similar facial structure as Minato. This was the very first time Kakashi had ever laid eyes on Naruto.

"Hey! How did you do that?" the five year old boy exclaimed excitedly, pointing his ice cream cone to where Kakashi's shadow clone used to be.

"Ah, that's a little too complicated for me to explain."

"Come on, teach me!" Naruto pleaded, jumping up and down. He raced over to Kakashi, leveling just over his knee, and gave big puppy dog eyes.

Kakashi felt compelled to ruffle Naruto's hair with his hand. It was strange to see the familiar yellow hair so much shorter than him. Kakashi was always used to looking up at it.

"They'll teach you something similar in the Academy. Well then, I'll be off." Kakashi gave Naruto a final glance before walking away.

He reached his apartment building and was finally able to enter and take a shower. Once he was prepared for the night, Kakashi sat on the side of his bed, sighing. He had forgotten; Kakashi had grown afraid of sleeping. More specifically, he was afraid of dreaming. So he sat still in the dark silence, wondering how to proceed.

He could just read some of his jutsu history books. Or he could make sure he had everything packed for the trip his next mission would entail. But that mission didn't start until the day after tomorrow.

"Oy! Mister!" A rock was thrown at his window. "I'm down here!"

It was a tiny voice, but this part of the village was so quiet that Kakashi's keen ears easily picked it up. Curiously, Kakashi strolled over to open the window and peered down.

Naruto's flashy yellow hair could be spotted standing on the sidewalk. He was still jumping up and down, holding a soggy ice cream cone in his one hand. A huge smile was on his face. "I found you, Neko! I'm going to be the best ninja out there someday. Now teach me that jutsu move you were doing!"

A sigh escaped Kakashi's lips. He wasn't sure if he was actually bothered by this interruption, because it would prolong the inevitable sleep that would ensue. But he didn't know how to handle a little kid running around the streets of Konoha at night. Let alone Minato and Kushina's kid.

Then a sudden realization leapt into his head, making Kakashi's eye widen. Naruto was roaming the streets of Konoha at night. By himself.

"Hey, where are you supposed to be right now?" Kakashi called out, crossing his arms and giving Naruto a stern look. "It's late."

"Oh well…" Naruto looked up at Kakashi's window. "I don't know where the orphanage is! I'm lost!"

"Ha! I'm not falling for that. You were skilled enough to tail me to my apartment, I don't believe you when you say you can't find the orphanage."

Naruto made a face and stuck out his tongue in response. Still, he remained where he was, standing outside of Kakashi's window with ice cream dripping down his shirt. Kakashi imagined that he would get an earful from Minato and Kushina if they ever knew Kakashi left Naruto alone.

"Hey Neko-san, is it your birthday today?" Naruto had gone from grumpy to cheerful in a split second. "I saw you with cake! My birthday's a month from now. They said they would give me cake too, but they always forget."

A gulp emerged in Kakashi's throat. He remembered clearly when Naruto's birthday was. After some thought, Kakashi decided it was better not to have Naruto shout at his apartment building all night and wake up his neighbours. Kakashi grabbed his jacket and jumped from his balcony window to the ground lightly.

"You were spying on me? Maybe you will be a great ninja some day," Kakashi commented.

Naruto was laughing. "Yeah! We have the same hair." He pointed at Kakashi's spiky white head. "So I saw you! How old you?"

Kakashi squatted so that he was at eye level with the young boy. "I'll only tell you how old I am if you go back to the orphanage with me."

At this, Naruto frowned. He huffed and turned his shoulders. "You can't make me!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Sighing, Kakashi realized that he may not get a chance to have that much rest that night. "Okay, if you're not going to cooperate, I'll have to do things my way."

With one motion, he had scooped the small blonde into one arm. Kakashi walked towards the direction of where he believed the orphanage to be. It was on the outskirts of the village, near the Uchiha district. He remembered passing by it a couple of times.

"No! I don't want!" Naruto started kicking and screaming while Kakashi walked carelessly. It was getting close to midnight, but there were still some people roaming around. They paid Kakashi no heed when they noticed Naruto, though.

"Settle down," Kakashi said stiffly, not reacting to Naruto's kicking and squirming. "And I'll teach you that jutsu."

"Really?" Naruto exclaimed, excitedly squirming in response. "Yes! I'm going to be exactly like you some day! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

Kakashi felt unease at that statement. He didn't want Naruto to grow up to become like him. But he was grateful that Naruto was no longer kicking and shouting while he carried him with his one arm.

That was short-lived, however. "I don't wanna go back to the orphanage!" Naruto whined out of the blue a few minutes later. "Don't want!"

"Naruto, you need to go home and get some sleep," Kakashi told him tiredly, rubbing his eye with one hand. He was also in desperate need of a solid night's interrupted sleep.

"I don't care!" Naruto hollered, squirming out of Kakashi's grasp. "Ang!"

With a look of disbelief, Kakashi looked at his arm where the five year old was previously clung. There was a tiny bite mark embedded in his forearm. The boy darted from him and into the shadows before Kakashi could react.

It wasn't like he knew how to react. He thought that all kids were supposed to respect grownups, and one of the unspoken rules was to not bite someone's arm. It was an odd first day of being a twenty-year old adult. Kakashi didn't know how to handle kids. And now he had let one of them run loose into the night.

"Hey, Naruto!" he called out. Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had been too lazy to react and chase after the blonde kid. "I'll find him eventually." He put his fists into his pockets and walked in the direction Naruto ran off into.

It was probably around midnight by now. There were some lamps flickering, but many of Konoha's streets were darkly lit and filled with shadows. Kakashi wasn't worried about finding Naruto. He could easily be sniffed out or heard, since the young boy was loud and covered in chocolate ice cream.

"Hey, are you lost?"

Someone waved at him. Kakashi squinted his eye, trying to make out the figure. "No, I'm not lost, just looking for something. Actually, just looking for someone."

"Is it a little boy that ran by a few minutes ago?" The male person was around Kakashi's age and had short dark hair. As they approached each other under a flickering lamp, he noticed that the male wore an Uchiha crescent on his shirt.

"That would be him." Kakashi sighed, rubbing his head. "He's run away from the orphanage and I need to find him."

"I can help you, if you'd like."

"Not to worry, I'm sure it won't take long before he tires himself out." Kakashi shook his head amusedly.

"I'll walk with you as you search for him. You're Hatake Kakashi, am I right?" The other person let out a sincere smile and offered a hand. "Of the ANBU Black Ops?"

"That's right. I'm not on duty at the moment, as you can tell." Kakashi shook the person's hand firmly.

"I would have thought it was odd for ANBU to be rounding up runaway children." The person's dark eyes gleamed brightly. "My name is Uchiha Shisui."

"I should have known. You're a shinobi held in high regard in this village."

Shisui walked by Kakashi's side, his shoulders relaxed. "You and the ANBU Black Ops are too occupied, I'm aware of that. I've heard about you from Itachi."

"He's a brilliant new recruit."

"I agree," Shisui said genuinely, glancing around for signs of Naruto. "But sometimes I wish he had never joined."

Kakashi looked up at the night sky. He thought back to his sensei and the current Hokage. There was a small tug of pain in his chest again. "It's a dark place to be for someone so young," Kakashi commented.

"You weren't that much older. But that's not in my place." Shisui turned to give Kakashi a half grin. "The village needs ANBU for protection. The both of you are doing a great duty in protecting and serving Konoha. That's something that I absolutely respect and admire."

"Shisui!" A frightened cry interrupted their conversation. It was coming from a young boy as well, but clearly a different voice from Naruto's

The two of them ran over to a patch of land near the Uchiha district. There was a dense patch of forest situated near the lake, where another dark haired young boy was calling out from.

"Sasuke, are you all right?" Shisui darted towards the six year old with incredible speed. Kakashi's eyes widened.

"That bratty kid from my class fell into the water and he hasn't come out!" Sasuke exclaimed hysterically. "Shisui-san, I don't know what to do! I ran here, but I couldn't find him."

"Naruto!" Kakashi kicked off his shoes. He peered into the black murky waters, unable to see anything except for the moonlight. Kakashi cursed and lifted his headband to reveal his Sharingan.

He jumped into the spot that the Uchiha kid had pointed to. It seemed like he was swimming in the deepest part of the lake. Kakashi was unable to see anything but darkness in the water, but he dived further down. He could faintly make out Naruto's small figure at the bottom.

It lasted only a few minutes but seemed like hours before Kakashi finally emerged with Naruto. Shisui immediately pulled the blonde-haired kid up and pumped his chest with his hand.

"Is he…?" Sasuke's high pitched voice squeaked from his sitting spot on the ground.

Kakashi pulled himself out of the water, panting heavily. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Naruto's chest moving normally.

"He's fine," Shisui announced, placing Naruto on the ground gently. "Sasuke, you did really well. I'm proud of you."

"What happened?" Kakashi questioned, pinching himself for sounding a little bit harsh. The kid had looked like he was going to burst into tears. However, Sasuke quickly regained some confidence and spoke up to answer.

"I don't know." He shrugged, pouting. "I think he slipped and fell. He doesn't even know how to swim."

Kakashi shook his head, disgruntled. There couldn't be a shinobi that didn't know how to swim. He'd have to make a mental note to get someone from the orphanage to do so, soon.

"Thank you, Shisui-san, Sasuke-kun."

Kakashi assumed responsibility over the unconscious boy by wrapping him in his dry jacket.

"Are you going to take him back, then?" Shisui asked while getting to his feet.

"Yeah. It's been a very long night."

"Well then, take care Kakashi-san." Shisui gave him a small bow of his head. "Sasuke, I'll take you home."

After his heart had stopped racing and Kakashi finally made it to the front steps of the orphanage building, he paused in his tracks. He felt out of character, like he wasn't himself in his own skin. But it felt different in a positive, warm way. Kakashi hadn't remembered the last time he felt so open towards people.

He glanced over at the now sleeping blonde haired kid, curled up peacefully. His hair was a mess, and he had a couple of bruises. Kakashi wondered how Minato's son was able to make him open up like that. He was only fourteen when Naruto was born, so he was highly inexperienced on how to take care of kids. Kakashi doubted he could take care of Naruto even now. He'd be better off in the orphanage with the others.

So he laid the boy down into his own bed, quietly so he wouldn't wake up the other kids in the room, and finally made his own way off to his own bed.


	2. Only Words

A month later, Kakashi walked ahead of his group as they neared Konoha. There were seven of them in total, and they were all clad in black gear with cat ANBU masks. He was the captain, but he didn't make an effort to issue commands towards the group. They were all exhausted, especially after spending nearly three weeks doing work in another country.

Directly behind him was the shortest and youngest member of the group, Itachi. Even though they were close to the village, his eyes were actively alert for any intruders or enemies. He also didn't speak to anyone else in the group.

In the back, a couple of them were whispering to each other. "In total from this mission, I ranked sixth overall in the number of kills."

"I got third. I can never match up to the Captain's coldhearted score."

"That new kid is pretty good too."

Kakashi heard them but paid them no attention. When they approached the gates of Konoha, he dropped off his reports wordlessly. Then they checked in at headquarters.

"Impressive. Good work, Kakashi." The Hokage beamed down at the light haired man kneeling at his desk. "You've done an excellent job at helping out the village."

Kakashi left the Hokage's office and removed his ANBU mask. His other mask wasn't efficient enough at masking his frown, however.

He recalled back to his encounter with Uchiha Shisui. The man had complimented him for how he was protecting the village. Kakashi spitefully glared at his ANBU mask.

"Kakashi! You're back!" Just his luck. On his way out of the Hokage's headquarters, he ran into Gai. "You're always saying you're tired, you just did a mission, excuses excuses. Come, let's go get ramen to celebrate another mission well done!"

Kakashi barely glanced over at Gai and kept walking carelessly.

"Hey! You're back to your typical ignoring-your-friends self, aren't you?" Gai accused, shaking a fist at Kakashi's retreating back. "I guess it was too good to be true more than once. No wait! I'm sure he'll come around some day again." Gai pumped up a fist in the air and walked off.

Kakashi always thought that the village was too large to simply be a 'village'. However, he could have eaten those words that day because he ran into many familiar faces within a short span of time.

"Hey you! Neko-san!"

Kakashi was surprised to see the blonde kid bounce in front of him, waving his hands. "Naruto?"

"You promised you would teach me that clone jutsu, remember? When we start learning it at the Academy, I'm gonna be at the top of my class!"

Kakashi gave him a pat on the head. "Another time, Naruto."

"But you promised!" he shouted, clenching his fists. "You said if I got back to the orphanage that you would teach me!"

"I had to carry you out from the bottom of a lake. Or did you not remember that?" Kakashi replied monotonously.

"Ah! Come on, Neko-san, please?" He eagerly jumped as high as he could to reach Kakashi's eye-level.

"I have work to do."

Naruto made a face and grunted angrily. He puffed out his chest and marched the other way… until he started to punch the back of Kakashi's legs. "Yeah, well you know what? I'll show you!"

Kakashi stepped over Naruto and picked him up by the collar with one finger. "You really don't want to make me mad, do you?" he asked testily, staring down at the little boy.

"You're no fun." Naruto crossed his arms and huffed.

Kakashi sighed. "Listen, I'm busy Naruto, okay? Maybe some other time."

Naruto's shoulders sagged defeatedly. When Kakashi placed him down, he darted off in the other direction.

"That kid of yours, Minato-sensei…" Kakashi rubbed his temple.

As said, Kakashi got some paperwork done and finished a few errands. By the time he was finished, it was only late afternoon. He had nothing else planned for that day. Perhaps he could finally have some time to himself to relax.

"Why is he so mean and cruel?"

"He doesn't care about anybody."

"I heard he killed his teammate, and left his other comrade to die."

He passed by a group of random villagers who saw him and began whispering to themselves. Of course as usual, he walked right by without a word.

He picked up some mail and discovered that one of the renowned ninjas of the village was stopping by in a few weeks. Kakashi made a mental note to greet Jiraiya while he passed by town.

Kakashi didn't want to eat in his apartment by himself, so he went to the marketplace in the center of the village.

"Kakashi! You want to have a ramen eating contest with me?" Gai waved to him from where he sat in the restaurant.

He groaned inwardly, but Gai was persistent. He dragged him to his table and ordered several bowls of ramen.

"I knew you'd be starving after that extensively long mission. Eat up."

Gai patted Kakashi on the back once before getting into his meal. 'He also gets colder after every mission,' Gai thought to himself. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to keep him in the ANBU Black Ops force. He never thought it was a good idea.

"You know, I ran into Minato's kid earlier today," Gai muttered to Kakashi. It wasn't common knowledge that Naruto was Minato's son. "He looks just like sensei."

"Yeah, I was surprised too," Kakashi admitted.

"He looked super glum though. You should go cheer him up!" Gai said, nervously laughing.

Kakashi continued to eat without responding. Gai sweatdropped lightly and kicked himself.

"I'll leave first! I gotta work on my hand stands. Six hundred more laps to go. Don't worry, we'll compete next time!" Gai flashed him a grin before heading out of the restaurant on his hands.

Kakashi finished his second bowl and solemnly looked down. There was something bugging him. Something about that day.

He searched the restaurant wall for some kind of calendar. Today was the tenth of October. Kakashi knew what that signified. He thought back to Naruto and felt another sense of dread tugging at him.

"Oh, it's Naruto's birthday." He shouldn't have to spend that alone. Kakashi was aware of what that felt like. He was lucky enough to have a persistent friend like Gai to drag him out last month for his 20th. "No wonder he was temperamental."

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Naruto threw aside his homework, huffing at the fact he had to do work on his birthday. "But I'm so bored I'd rather do anything... even if it's homework," he groaned.

Still, he left his school papers on the floor and stepped out of his apartment. In his hand were a couple of markers. He felt a thrilling rush of excitement as he ran to the park to scribble nonsense writing onto the fence.

It was a cool day outside. It was perfect for Naruto.

"Hey, stop writing on the fence, kid," another kid's mother scolded him. He dashed away, laughing, before she could say anymore.

At another building, Naruto decided to take up drawing. He created a semi-deformed picture of a cat on a window with black marker, before making a face again.

"Cats aren't cool. I'll draw something else." Naruto tried to draw a dog, but it ended up looking like a half dog, half cat.

"I think someone needs to teach you how to draw in addition on how to swim."

Naruto's marker dropped out of his hand in surprise. "Ah! I didn't do it! Ah! Oh, it's you." His face fell when he spotted Kakashi leaning on the wall behind him. "What are you doing here?" he shouted.

"Well, I thought I'd teach you that Shadow Clone jutsu."

They stared blankly at each other. Around them, several of the children were heading home with their parents.

Naruto instantly brightened. "Really? Yes! Show me show me Neko-san!"

"Okay first of all, my name is Kakashi."

"Yeah whatever, Neko-san, Kaka-san. What do I have to do?"

Kakashi and Naruto sat on one of the park benches a few minutes later. He held out his fingers and showed him the signs.

"This is the first step. The second step is to practice it over and over again, until you get it."

"Alright! I'm so going to beat everyone in my class!"

Kakashi watched as Naruto attempted to create a shadow clone, only to fail at making anything appear.

"Argh what am I doing wrong?" Naruto shouted an hour later.

"You know what, why don't you take it easy, Naruto?" Kakashi suggested. "Go home, go get some dinner. It's your birthday, afterall." He said it as casually as he possibly could, hiding behind a tight smile.

However, Naruto noticed and was thrilled. "You remembered! So that's why you came to teach me Kage Bunshin. Neko's not a mean person afterall."

That was certainly the nicest thing Kakashi heard about himself all day long.

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"He doesn't live here anymore." One of the ladies gave Kakashi an apologetic look.

Kakashi stared blankly at the orphanage leaders. "You let him live on his own?"

"Yeah, we set up an apartment for him. After much consideration from the seniors, and our neighbours, we decided it was time Naruto got his own place. So it was all arranged just a few weeks ago."

Kakashi left the orphanage feeling slightly distraught. This was the reason why Naruto had run away and whined about not wanting to return to the orphanage. He must have known they were abandoning him.

He carried a plastic bag containing a bowl of ramen soup. Now he felt like it wouldn't be enough to go to his house like this.

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"You got me ramen AND cake?" Naruto's eyes lit up happily as he stumbled into his kitchen. "Yay! Thank you, Neko-Kaka!"

Kakashi had his arms crossed, but a slight tug of his lips appeared. "That's going to get really confusing, you know."

After Naruto had energetically eaten the ramen, plus the entire cake, he seemed to lose all of his energy.

"Will you come again tomorrow?" Naruto asked eagerly, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Sorry I can't, I have another mission to do. I'm a shinobi," Kakashi told him, sitting on the floor across from Naruto. They had been tossing a ball into the air across the room.

"How long will that take?"

"Days, sometimes weeks or months. I won't actually have a lot of time to play with you, Naruto." Kakashi threw the ball and looked at his lap. "It's a one time special day."


	3. The Mission Begins

"I think we should appeal to the Hokage about Kakashi again." Kurenai let out a sigh.

Gai nodded in agreement. "They don't need him."

"After Asuma left to join some damned group, I'm definitely not going to sit around and lose all my friends." Kurenai made a fist and slammed it on the table. "Even though I barely even like Kakashi, he's still a comrade."

"I'm doing this because he's my eternal rival."

The two made their way towards Headquarters, practicing their prepared speech silently.

"He'd get mad at us for interfering," Kurenai sighed again. "I wish we'd know how Kakashi would react to this type of thing. His closest friends were Rin and Obito, but even they were unable to get under his skin. But maybe they would have known what to do."

"Are you talking about that little Kakashi kid?"

Jiraiya appeared in front of them, his face looming close to theirs. The duo jumped back, startled.

"Kakashi-san just became an adult. He's not so little anymore," Kurenai replied nervously, bowing slightly. "Jiraiya-sensei, I didn't know you were back!"

"What an honour!" Gai bowed a full 90 degrees. "Jiraiya-sama!"

The older, white-haired man laughed brightly. "No need to call me sama, Gai kiddo! And to me, the lot of you will always be little."

"What brings you back to Konoha, Jiraiya-sensei?"

"I need to pay a visit to Hokage, but I won't be here in town for too long. But be sure to hit up the bar sometime before I leave."

Gai and Kurenai left the Hokage's office, their heads bowed defeatedly once more. Jiraiya bid them farewell encouragingly. Then he stood alone in the office, facing Hiruzen with some news.

"The Kageru village has been industrializing vastly in the past few years," Jiraiya announced. "One of their main interests seems to be expanding their military force. They've started to recruit ninja clans and shinobi officers from surrounding hidden villages."

"What?" Hiruzen stood up forcefully, appalled by the news. "Isn't the Kageru village just a normal village? They're not supposed to raise shinobi."

"They've secretly started to recruit more of them. And one of their areas of interest is infiltrating the smaller hidden villages." Jiraiya held out a couple of scrolls with reports. "They wouldn't dare attack Konoha because we're bigger and powerful. However, I'd say this could grow to be problematic if we ignore it."

"I'll have to dispatch a few of Konoha's units to ensure that the problem doesn't escalate." Hiruzen sighed. "Danzo wouldn't send any shinobi from the Foundation, since the matters don't directly interfere with the village. But it's better for the village, since I don't him interfering.

"Jiraiya, I would like to ask you to speak on behalf of myself on this mission. You'll send their village leader my report, and perhaps we can create an alliance with this new village. In the meanwhile, we'll have to make sure the other villages aren't affected by this change."

"I guess I can pull away from retirement just long enough to do this one favour for you." Jiraiya bowed his head.

"I'll send in two squads with you. That should be sufficient enough to survery the Kageru and the surrounding villages. The first squad will be a group of seven from the ANBU. Hatake Kakashi is the captain in charge. And I'll also send in some regular village shinobi in the second squad, also in a group of seven. Just to show we don't mean to attack."

"The village is about a week's walk away. I suppose I should round up these fellows as soon as possible." Jiraiya tipped his hat and turned to leave.

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"I gather you all here today to inform you of your mission. The two groups will be working together an important assignment." Hiruzen stood before fourteen ninjas, half of them who were wearing ANBU masks. "Each captain will assign you lot a different section of the area in southern Konoha to monitor. Your job is to protect the villages from foreign ninjas.

"Additionally, one member of the ANBU team and one member from the jounin team will aid Jiraiya in confronting Kageru's village leader. Shisui, I recommend you accompany him."

The Uchiha man nodded his head. "Of course."

Across the room, Kakashi peaked at Shisui through his mask. Beside him, Uchiha Itachi was the shorter ANBU shinobi who also perked up at the sound of Shisui's name.

"This mission requires the least amount of fatalities," Hiruzen also ordered. "Team Captains, it is imperative that you limit the amount of fighting done, if possible."

They were dismissed by the Hokage soon after. Kakashi walked with the group to a meeting room to discuss further plans. It was going to be odd working with another team of shinobi.

"Oy, this is where everybody is." Jiraiya entered the room not too long afterwards. "Fourteen people under my wing, isn't it? That'll be highly entertaining. This mission doesn't seem too stressful, as long as I'm able to contact the leader accordingly. It shouldn't take longer than a few weeks."

Kakashi watched Itachi approached Shisui. They gave each other a brief exchange before they settled down with the rest of the group. If Kakashi hadn't known any better, he would have thought that these two were brothers. They looked so much alike, although Itachi was lacking the bright, warm expression that Shisui always wore.

"…and I guess all that's left is for both captains to accompany myself."

Looking up, Kakashi noticed that the room was staring at him. "Myself and Shisui? I would have thought it'd be more efficient to have a pair of the Uchiha clan join you, Jiraiya-sensei."

"Itachi has informed me that he's going to be dispatched in another unit in a few days as their captain. So it doesn't make sense to take him along for several weeks and delay that from happening. We'll have another member take his place."

After the meeting, Shisui pulled Kakashi aside when everyone else had gone. "It's better this way. Itachi can stay here to protect the village. I'd feel uneasy if both of us were gone." Shisui smiled halfheartedly.

"I can understand that." Kakashi nodded. "You two seem really close."

"He's like a younger brother."

The two of them walked out of Headquarters together. The moon was already shining in the dark sky, glittering among the millions of stars. Kakashi looked up at the full moon, like he often did every night.

"I heard some of your team whispering. They seemed to think it was highly improbable for their captain to keep the number of killings to a minimum."

Kakashi's expression remained impassive. "A common opinion, I guess."

"If it bugs you, don't mind them. Hatake Kakashi isn't doing the killing, even if you are the hand that raises the sword."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "So you're suggesting that we're all puppets on a string, that kill on the orders of our superiors?"

"No, I'm not suggesting that at all." Shisui still gave Kakashi a warm smile, despite the harsh, biting tone of the other person. "Whatever we may do as shinobi is to protect the our village. You've put the village above all else, which is why you aren't the person doing the killing."

Shisui was a particularly friendly person and wore his heart on his sleeve. Kakashi, on the otherhand, was not. He was unwilling to see how Shisui seemed to respect him so much.

"What do you think of Hatake Sakumo, then?"

Kakashi's voice was hauntingly low. It took Shisui by surprise.

"Hatake Sakumo?"

"Yeah. My father."

"He was the White Fang of Konoha." Shisui closed his eyes, thinking deeply. "He saved his comrades at the sake of his village."

"Let me ask you something, Uchiha Shisui. What if there was something worth protecting more than a village? Even if it was your own village?"

"I disagree. Konoha is what's worth protecting the most."

Kakashi's eyes flashed. His friend Obito's words came flashing back to him. "What if it was between the village or your friends? Or you family? Would you abandon them?"

Shisui hesitated. "I don't know how to answer that…" he admitted. He felt like the other ANBU shinobi was stepping onto some personal stones.

"All I know is that I fight because I have to, not because I want to protect the village. So don't preach to me about how what I'm doing is noble." Kakashi gave the other man a glare and walked away.

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Before he left for the mission, Kakashi managed to stop by the Academy. It was midday, so all the kids were outside eating lunch. It didn't take long for him to spot Naruto sitting on a bench by himself. He felt a weight lift off of his chest.

"Yo, Naruto."

"Kakashi!" Naruto looked up in surprise. "Are you going on a mission?"

Kakashi held an ANBU mask in one of his hands. "Yeah. I'll be gone for a while. Be a good kid in the meanwhile, okay?" He said it in a desperate but hopeless attempt for Naruto to behave.

Naruto crossed his arms and shook his head. "No way, it's not like you can stop me here," he said mischievously. Then he let out a saddened sigh.

"Is something the matter?"

Kakashi glanced at the playground, where Naruto was glaring. He stared down at the mop of yellow hair below him.

"I'll show them." Naruto clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. Kakashi found it slightly amusing how the chibi version of Minato was acting wildly like his mother.

"Be nice to your classmates, Naruto."

"Yeah well, they're not nice to me! Hey Neko-san, do you want to go to Ichiraku Ramen with me when you're done your mission?"

Kakashi was surprised by Naruto's mood change. "I'll be gone for a long time, though, Naruto. So just… take care of yourself for now."

He stopped by the cemetery briefly before meeting Jiraiya at the rendezvous point, at the Konoha gates.

When he approached them, Jiraiya pointed towards the young ANBU captain. "You're awfully later than usual, or so these guys say."

"My bad." Kakashi didn't make up an excuse for his action. He figured he had stayed at the cemetery for a longer period than he realized.

The large group finally set off on their destination. They would be traveling together for several days, then they would split apart to their respective villages.

"I think I can make a guess to why you're always late." Jiraiya had fallen to the back of the group, gently pulling Kakashi alongside him.

"It's of no concern."

"Before he died, Minato already warned me that you were spending all your time there." Jiraiya placed an arm around Kakashi's shoulders, sighing nonchalantly. "Does that mean that the more people you lose, the longer you'll be late?"

"We're on a mission, Jiraiya-sensei," Kakashi reminded him. He blocked out Jiraiya's words as best as he could.

"It's a pretty laidback mission. I reckon we'll have a lot of free time to do whatever we want."

"Actually, if you must know…" Kakashi slipped out of Jiraiya's grasp gracefully. "I also paid a visit to Uzumaki Naruto. That's why it took up some more time."

"Oh is that right?" Jiraiya brightened up considerably. "How's my godson doing?"

"He's doing okay." Kakashi thought back to the image of Naruto sitting alone in the playground, and in his solo apartment. He remembered how the orphanage completely left Naruto alone. It made him slightly upset on the inside. "Jiraiya-sensei… how come you never took Naruto in?"

"Hmm?"

"You're his godfather, plus Minato trusted you so much. So how come you didn't adopt Naruto?"

Jiraiya sighed, and tried to put an arm around Kakashi's shoulders again. "We're more alike than you think, Kakashi. It's not just our wild white hair." He let out a laugh. "You could have taken him in too, after Minato and Kushina died." Kakashi looked at him with disbelief. "I'm just kidding, you were only fourteen. Too young to even take care of yourself, let alone a baby."

Kakashi huffed slightly, but it was hidden under his mask. "You weren't exactly in the springtime of your youth at that time."

"Ah. But you see, Kakashi-kun, you're a broken person trying to heal from something whose only cure is time. You would have been an unfit guardian." Jiraiya's smile dropped slightly. "This is why we're more alike than you'd think."

"That could come across as a pitiful excuse for you, Jiraiya-san,." Kakashi shook his head.

"It is an excuse. But it's the one I'm going with. I'll meet up with Naruto one day," Jiraiya promised himself. "There are things I need to accomplish first."


	4. Hot Springs

"Ah, after nearly a week's worth of walking, I say we hit the hot springs! There's one about ten minutes to our left." Jiraiya led the group towards the direction of a few mountains. They were going to split up the following day. A lot of them looked burnt out.

The non-ANBU part of the group all expressed satisfied interest in taking a stop at the hot springs. They eagerly followed Jiraiya, wiping the sweat off their brows.

The ANBU team, on the otherhand, was apprehensive. "Jiraiya-sensei, we're not supposed to deter from our mission route," Kakashi reminded.

"It's only for the night. Look." Jiraiya pointed at the sky. "It's going to rain heavily, probably with thunderstorms, all night long. I doubt you'd want to sleep out here tonight. Plus we're super close to our destination."

"It's better for the team," Shisui spoke to Kakashi. "Jiraiya-san is right. We're one team right now, and Jiraiya is our leader. We'll have to listen to him."

Kakashi bite tongue, not wanting to discuss with Shisui more than he had to. However, he knew he was right. They'd have to do things Jiraiya's way.

"Alright you guys! And the girls," Jiraiya added, noticing that three members of the group were female. "Time to hit the hot springs before the wind and rain kick in! Whoo!"

Kakashi sat in one of the rooms, rubbing his sore shoulders. He was a little bit annoyed that Jiraiya was making it seem like vacation. If they took the situation too lightly, then there could be some severe consequences.

"Relax, Kakashi." Jiraiya told him when he sat down in the hot water. "Nothing about this mission will go wrong. Especially for us. We've got it easy! The others, on the other hand, have to patrol six of the surrounding villages."

"No big deal, I guess." Kakashi still didn't look like he approved.

In the corner of the hotsprings, some of the male shinobi were discussing amongst themselves. "He's a buzzkill," one of them whispered to the other. "All he cares about is completing the mission."

"Yeah, I heard he would kill even his comrades."

Shisui was sitting within earshot of the group. He frowned at that remark. "I think you should show a little more respect for your captain," he said darkly. "You don't know what his experiences are like."

"Neither do you. He's the type of shinobi that will leave you behind for the sake of the mission." Several of them started sniggering.

Unable to relax in the hot mineral water, Shisui excused himself. He went into the locker room and let out a shaky breath. He had gotten angry over their words, but kept a straight face the entire time.

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"Yo, Kakashi-san. Your fellow comrades found your extra mask and put it with your other belongings. See you in the morning, Jiraiya-san, Kakashi." Shisui had wrapped a towel around his waist and approached them, drying his hair with a smaller towel.

"Oh, you're an early sleeper, aren't you?" Jiraiya waved cheerfully, but noticed that his companion was looking fairly grumpy.

"Are you not getting along with the Uchiha kid?" Jiraiya raised his eyebrow. "I noticed you're especially cold towards him."

Kakashi shrugged, sinking his shoulders deep into the hot, steaming water. The air outside was getting a bit colder than usual. "He doesn't concern me at all."

"He's the nicest person to you in the group. Besides yours truly, of course." Jiraiya laid his head back in the water, his hair sprawling in all directions. "I don't know if you're aware of all the things people whisper about you."

"I have ears. None of what people say concern me." Kakashi shrugged, acting indifferent on the outside.

"No matter how tough a person tries to seem, words like that cut as sharp as a shuriken. Plus…" Jiraiya pointed a stern finger at Kakashi's nose. "It's always good to have a friend by your side."

"Jiraiya-sensei, we never talked much before Minato-sensei died. Why are you expressing so much interest now?" Kakashi said with a tone of indifference.

Jiraiya evaded the response. However, the man, who was slipping past middle age, felt sorry for Kakashi every time he glanced at him. He was wasting away his youth being depressed and bitter. Jiraiya remembered his encounter with Kurenai and Gai, who were fussing over Kakashi.

"Minato, in the end, you knew Kakashi the best," Jiraiya thought to himself as he soaked in the hot water. "You understood him better than anyone else. Help me out, please."

The pair of them retreated into the hostel when the storm started to rage over them. Rain was pouring heavily from the sky, and wind pummeled hard against the windows. There were many people stuffed in the lobbies, travelers who were escaping the storm. All of the rooms in the hostel were filled to over maximum capacity.

Kakashi laid down on his mat, arms crossed underneath his head.

_"Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon _their_ friends are worse than scum." _Obito's words haunted him. Jiraiya was encouraging to make friends, but that meant opening doors to allow him to get hurt.

"If I don't have friends to protect, I'll never get hurt again," Kakashi thought to himself. "I won't have to visit so many places at the cemetery."

He thought back to Naruto, and dismissed the idea completely. "I do have friends, even if they're people like Gai and Jiraiya." Kakashi closed his eyes, sighing. "Life is way too complicated."

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"Kakashi."

There was someone in pain. Kakashi had to help her. He reached out to help his friend Rin out, but found his arm deeply embedded in her chest. His eyes widened in horror and he withdrew his hand. Blood poured down his sleeve and filled his heart with dread.

"Kakashi."

He let Rin go, falling to his knees in disbelief. He was a monster. He couldn't believe he had done that.

"Kakashi!"

He woke up to the sound of Jiraiya's low, rusty voice, instead of Rin's soft voice calling his name. Immediately, Kakashi sat upright with a small yelp. He was shaking furiously and dripping with cold sweat.

"What's going on?" he questioned, looking at the two people at his side. Jiraiya and Shisui were both giving him worried eyes. They were both dressed in their shinobi clothes and looked ready to go.

"It's morning. The others have left towards their destinations. Are you feeling alright, Kakashi?" Jiraiya questioned.

Kakashi glanced at the window, keeping a straight face. Outside, it was still dark and raining gloomily. "Is it really morning?"

"The sky is deceitful today," Shisui replied.

"We'll get going soon," Jiraiya announced, patting Kakashi on the back. "After we've grabbed a bite to eat. I've got to go take care of some business." He left the room to give Kakashi some time to recover.

Groaning, Kakashi got up and retrieved his clothes. He was still shaken up, but Kakashi wasn't going to let Shisui see how rattled he was. The both of them had been piercing him with worried stares since he woke up. He locked himself in one of the bathrooms to wash his hands.

Ten minutes later, Kakashi turned off the faucet tap and breathed a heavy sigh. His hands still felt unclean. They were about to depart, so he had to pull himself together.

"Where's Jiraiya?" he asked after he had finished changing. His left eye was covered by his headband as usual, and he adorned a clean face mask and ANBU mask.

"Eeek!"

There was a scream and several thudding noises from the room beside them. Kakashi and Shisui listened as several female voices shrieked at someone. This someone kept professing countless apologies.

"Whoops, that was an accident." A flustered, redfaced Jiraiya escaped into their room with a pant. "A happy accident though…" He fell to the ground in content.

"Was that your true purpose of bringing us here?" Shisui questioned, pulling Jiraiya to his feet and closing the door. A couple of angry ladies were shouting at them from the other side.

"Of course not," Jiraiya snapped, but his face became dazed again. "But I'll definitely come back from now on."

"I feel bad for the next group of people you drag along with you, Jiraiya-san." Shisui pulled his pack over his shoulders and turned to Kakashi. "You haven't eaten anything yet." He held out a muffin to Kakashi.

Wordlessly, Kakashi accepted it and gathered his pack as well. The yelling ceased outside their door. "We should escape while they're unaware," he commented.

"They'll forgive me eventually. We still have two days worth of walking ahead of us. Due to the weather outside, this might be the only difficult part of the trip." Jiraiya pulled a coat over his head and picked up a couple of umbrellas.

The weather outside was piercingly cold and frightful. They made their way bravely through the heavy rain, only occasionally slipping in the mud. Oddly, the sky itself was barely lit up by the sun; it was grey and close to being black like a regular night. If Kakashi hadn't checked up on a watch, he wouldn't have believed it was midday.

"The goal is to create an alliance with Kageru to Konoha. The leader is named Izumi Hokuto. The village is trying to achieve recognition as a newly renowned shinobi village, which is why they've been infiltrating the six villages surrounding it. We've also got to remind them of the laws of the country. I don't believe there will be a fight to this. It's more of a political dispute."

"Why send shinobi to each of the other villages, then?" Kakashi inquired.

"The villages have made requests for Konoha shinobi to help them deal with Kageru's ninja. They haven't done anything too harmful. Our shinobi are just going to convince those ninjas to return to their village."

Shisui walked ahead of them, keeping an eye out for other ninja or passers-by. "And our job is to protect you while you're delivering the Hokage's message?"

"Correct. But it'll be a piece of cake."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he followed Jiraiya's steps. He had said that one too many times.


	5. A True Shinobi

"When they reached the edges of the village a couple days later, the rain had not let up. Jiraiya, Kakashi and Shisui found shelter underneath a market canopy, which was deserted at the time being. There were few people in sight. None of the people they observed seemed to be shinobi.

"All seems quiet."

Jiraiya suggested that they take a small tour through the city first. He knew where Izumi was located, so they could take their time getting accustomed to the city.

"I'll check out this building on my own. The two of you can go down that street."

"Are you going to check out women at the pub?" Kakashi accused, crossing his arms. "If you know where Izumi is, why don't we all go deliver the message right now?"

"There's a lot of time. Don't worry!" Jiraiya flashed him a grin.

"We're supposed to be protecting you!"

"He'll be fine on his own, Kakashi," Shisui told him. "Jiraiya-san can handle himself."

"That's what I'm talking about." Jiraiya patted Shisui on the back. "We'll meet here in 90 minutes. Go and treat yourself to a snack."

The man headed into a pub down the street, whistling a light tune.

Instead of listening to Jiraiya, Kakashi pulled up his hood again. "He's going to see the leader by himself, I'm betting on that. Who does he think we are?"

"That's why we're following him," Shisui replied, also pulling up his hood.

"Excellent. Glad we're both thinking on the same page."

"Let's go, Kakashi-san."

They snuck to the side of the building Jiraiya stepped into and peered in through the window. As expected, there was no sign of the white-haired sage. He most likely disappeared along the back entrance. The duo trailed after Jiraiya carefully, who had gone up a sidewalk leading to another section of the village.

For a moment, Kakashi forgot about his clash with Shisui. No matter how cold Kakashi was towards the other person, no matter how much he ignored him, Shisui talked to him with the same cordial tone and pleasantly smiled. Even though this was the first time they were working together, he also felt like they would have made good shinobi partners. It was a shame that Kakashi was stuck in ANBU.

"Jiraiya-sensei is heading towards the police force center. I guess he really is meeting up with Izumi by himself," Kakashi said quietly. "He must have forgotten that we're a team." That wasn't how teamwork was supposed to work.

They surveyed the area and scanned for guards and ninjas as they followed Jiraiya. The sage eventually came across a large brown building and knocked on the door. A guard opened the door and Jiraiya entered the complex.

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"Jiraiya? One of the three legendary Sannin, is it?" Jiraiya sat cross legged before a shorter, graying man. Hiruzen's message was open on the floor between them. Izumi Hokuto sneered at the Konoha ninja. He was a sight for sore eyes, and had a bad personality to boot. Jiraiya wondered how someone like him could become the leader of anything.

"What is your reply?" Jiraiya asked, crossing his arms. "I'll remind you that you are breaking the law by sending in ninjas from your village to the others. That is already grounds for punishment. But the Hokage is willing to overlook that."

Izumi glared a hole into Jiraiya's skull. "I'll agree to the Hokage's terms and conditions. We'll form an alliance, and I'll have my shinobi return to the village."

"Is that all?" Jiraiya raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "If you have demands, make them."

"Very well. We will make a request for financial assistance in the following scenarios." Izumi spent a few minutes writing some terms and editing a few clauses in the agreement. "And so forth."

They sat uncomfortably while they fixed the draft. Jiraiya spoke with mild annoyance to the leader. However, he kept his eyes alert at all times. He noticed that there were very few ninjas present at the complex.

"How many ninjas do you have registered thus far?"

"A few hundred," was the vague reply he got in response.

Jiraiya made a fist and slammed it on the ground beside him. "Izumi-san, you have broken several laws, yet we're still offering you minimal punishment and protection. What you can do is cooperate, or we'll be forced to act."

"You mean you'll send your Leaf shinobi to deal with my men?" Izumi let out a laugh.

Jiraiya had a knowing look. "You have no idea what we're capable of. Now cooperate," he ordered. "Last time I checked, you had at least 200 ninjas under your belt."

"You think that by spying on my village, that makes you one step ahead of me? Don't make me laugh," Izumi barked.

When Jiraiya finally got up to leave, Izumi interjected once more. "Why are you doing all this work for a village you don't reside in anymore?"

"Well, it's my homeland afterall. A shinobi never forgets where they come from."

"It's a shame for Konoha to see you go."

As soon as Jiraiya stepped outside the room, he was ambushed by an array of shuriken. He dodged them all and threw a couple of them back at his assailants. He turned to confront Izumi but found that the man already disappeared. "Damnit!" he cursed.

There weren't many ninjas in the building. Jiraiya easily countered their attacks. However by the time he was finished, he hadn't a clue where Izumi took off. He noticed that there was a commotion outside as well.

He looked out the window to see a familiar spark of lightning. Grinning, Jiraiya was just about to join them outside when he realized something horrifying. He took off from the villa, hoping that he had enough time.

Outside of the complex, Kakashi and Shisui had spotted Jiraiya fighting and abandoned their posts. Once they commenced fighting, about a hundred ninjas emerged from an underground exit. The entire villa used to be quiet, so this was quite a shock.

With a rush of adrenaline, Kakashi charged forward and took out many of the ninjas with Raikiri. To his surprise, he witnessed Shisui extremely quickly beside him. He took out many of the long ranged attackers before they knew he was coming.

"Shisui of the Body Flicker. Your title serves you well," Kakashi muttered under his breath. He punched at another shinobi with Raikiri and darted outside to help Shisui.

There were shuriken being fired at them from the rooftop. Shisui took care of them in just a few seconds, effortlessly getting to the rooftop and slaying a dozen of them. Kakashi threw down the last couple of ninjas by the time Shisui was also done.

"I guess Jiraiya brought back-up."

There was a man standing on the other side of the courtyard, surrounded by a couple of ninjas. Kakashi narrowed his eye.

"Are you Izumi?" he growled, lifting up his lightning blade hand.

The man shook his head. He had dark blonde hair and a wicked smile. "I'm Izumi's right hand man. You've wasted your time by coming here. By now, most of us are already on our way to Konoha."

Shisui leapt from the rooftop and landed at Kakashi's side. "I think we could probably take them," Shisui bet, gesturing towards the ninjas standing behind the man.

However, when they noticed Shisui, they took a step back.

"Uchiha! Don't attack them."

Kakashi was seething with anger. He raised his headband and opened his left eye. The bright red Sharingan flashed at them dangerously. "Our comrades can probably take you guys on too. You're nothing like the shinobi of Konoha."

"We may be weak, but can your village handle an attack of three hundred people all at once," the man shot back hotheadedly.

They stood in a standstill, unsure of what this man's intentions were. "What are you planning?" Shisui called out. He still had his small sword, an aikuchi, out in front of him.

"Retreat, we'll continue as planned!" the man hollered.

Kakashi made a move to stop them, but they threw a couple of explosion tags before them. It didn't hit them, but it was enough force to knock the two back. A cloud of dust and smoke filled the air. They couldn't believe that they left them standing there.

"He's sealed off the exit," Shisui informed Kakashi.

"We should find Jiraiya before pursuing them."

They headed to the building Jiraiya had entered. Kakashi punctured a hole into the door, allowing them entry.

"He's not here."

They found a note on one of the desks in Jiraiya's handwriting. "He said he went ahead and to meet with the others." Kakashi gripped the note tightly in his hand. "We should get to the other members of the team in the next village."

As they ran, a million thoughts raced through their heads. "Why did they cease their attack when they saw it was me?" Shisui wondered.

"He knew who you were," Kakashi responded, thinking back to the incident. "But they didn't retreat because of your strength. At least, I don't feel like that was the cause. They weren't scared of you, even though they ought to be."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

The duo packed up and departed quickly. It seemed like as the situation got worse, the weather was getting doubly terrible. Kakashi and Shisui found it difficult to navigate in the howling wind and furious rain. In the distance, there were sounds of thunder and streaks of lightning.

Since Izumi was leading his men towards Konoha, that meant they had to round up the rest of the team and meet up with Jiraiya to stop them. But in this weather, it was impossible to track Jiraiya, the enemy, or continue towards the closest village, which was only a few hours away.

"We're going to get lost if we continue at this rate!" Shisui called out, keeping his hood over his head. It was impossible to see or navigate. "I doubt Izumi's men can make it through this weather. It's too dangerous for us out here."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "I saw a cave not too far back. We can stay there in the meanwhile. If we can't press onwards, then neither can Izumi."

"They're a long distance from Konoha. We've got an entire week to catch up."

They retreated to the dry confinement of the cave. Kakashi hung up his clothes to dry by the fire, sighing defeatedly. They had lost their leader Jiraiya, who had gone off on his own again, and were separated from the rest of the group. In addition, there was no way of communicating with them. Kakashi felt lost and unprepared.

Before Shisui took the first shift watching, he glanced over at Kakashi. "Hey, Kakashi-san, can I ask you something?" He waited with bated breath for Kakashi to answer coldly.

He was surprised. "What do you want to know?"

"How did you get your Sharingan?"

Despite the fact that Kakashi had been annoyed with Shisui ever since their disagreement, and he'd been giving him harsh treatment since then, Shisui never changed his tone when acknowledging Kakashi. He still approached him as normally as ever, with an encouraging smile and polite words. Sometimes, he was reminded of Minato-sensei whenever he spoke to Shisui.

"My friend gave it to me before he died." Kakashi told him the whole truth of what happened on his first day as jounin. He recounted the events with Obito and Rin, and how his friend saved him from being crushed. The Sharingan was a present Obito gave him before he passed away. "Overall, it's a symbol of a promise I made."

"What's that?"

"To protect my friends," Kakashi said quietly. "Even though I've already failed at that." He wondered how many more promises he was going to break.

"I have faith in you." Shisui gave him thumbs up. "I think you can still fulfill that promise, even if you don't think so. Like I said before, I think you're a great shinobi.

Kakashi stifled a snort. "I'll believe you once this mission is over and nothing else goes wrong. What makes a shinobi great, anyways?"

"A true shinobi is one who protects peace from its shadow. That's what I think." Shisui shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Well I'll let you get some sleep first, and I'll take the first watch." Shisui positioned himself near the fire and faced the cave entrance. "I'll wake you up in a few hours."


	6. A Plot

By the time Kakashi did wake up, the fire had already run its course. His muscles were a little sore, but his overall body was feeling a lot lighter than yesterday. He picked up his dry clothes from the ground, groggily pulling himself awake.

"Is it morning?" Kakashi's jaw dropped.

The cave couldn't conceal the ravenous warm sunshine spreading through the sky and leaking into their territory. Kakashi marveled at the contrast from the previous day. It was like a scene out of a movie.

"Oy, why didn't you wake me up for my turn to watch?" Kakashi inquired, noticing Shisui was sitting cross-legged against the wall of the cave.

"I did," Shisui lied nonchalantly. He had a book in his hand. "You did your watch."

"I'm so terribly confused right now." Kakashi's head was pounding. Maybe it was the temperamental weather that was making things weird. Maybe it was a genjutsu or something. Kakashi was too tired and preoccupied to think much about it. He was thankful he didn't get any nightmares that night.

"We're going to hurry if we want to get to catch up with the others."

The two quickly made their way to the nearest city, keeping their eyes open for any enemies. They were expecting some kind of attack, or to run into a large group of Izumi's ninjas. However, they reached the village without any problems.

Two ANBU members also greeted them at the village gates, spotting them coming from a mile away. They were also confused by their captain's questions. "There were no problems here, Captain," they reported. "There were a few ninjas spotted here, but they returned back to the other village when we confronted them."

"We're heading back to Konoha," Kakashi ordered, adjusting his ANBU mask.

The two gave their captain quizzical looks. "We just got here though."

Shisui gave a quick explanation to the ninjas.

"So they're on their way to Konoha?" one of the ANBU ninjas questioned.

In the meanwhile, Kakashi performed the Summoning Jutsu. He instructed Pakkun and several other dogs to get to the other villages and deliver them the message. "Pakkun can you try to find Jiraiya?"

"I've already picked up on his scent," Pakkun informed him, sniffing the air. "It's hard not to miss his toad-stench. He's heading in the direction of Konoha. I smell a lot of other ninjas heading that way as well."

"Jiraiya must have figured it out and gone ahead to stop them," Shisui determined.

"We'll have to catch up to him." They wasted no time in taking off.

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"It seems you've caught on."

Jiraiya held a sword up to Izumi's neck, smiling lightheartedly. "I should have known from the start. You were never one to be trusted, yet I still fell into your trap. You wanted to lure some of Konoha's top shinobi as far away as possible in order to strike."

"It worked like a charm," Izumi laughed, blocking the blade and falling back. Several of his ninjas backed him up, also barring swords and their teeth. "We would have never been able to cooperate with Konoha anyways."

"But why attack Konoha? That part doesn't make sense. You don't gain anything from doing so."

"It's no concern of yours," Izumi snarled.

"Well I'm here to stop you lot."

Jiraiya was truly a master at ninjutsu. He blocked and countered every single shinobi's attack with ease. Izumi held back, watching the exchange with a gleam in his eye.

They had stopped in the middle of the forest. The ground was still muddy and wet, but the sky was clear blue and warm. It provided a humid atmosphere to fight in. Jiraiya's clothes were still soaked in cold rainwater. He spent most of the night trying to toughen out the storm. He managed to catch up to Izumi and his army when the sun rose.

Jiraiya glanced up to analyze them after killing another ninja. In total, the group of ninjas totaled to around 150 people. They weren't as skilled as Konoha ninja, but he underestimated them. Some of them could perform ninjutsu using water and earth elements. Jiraiya could get overwhelmed easily if he didn't watch his step. They were also in the middle of a forest, which made things a little more difficult to see

He still felt uneasy. "You had more ninjas than this," Jiraiya stated, glaring at Izumi. "Where are they?"

"Jiraiya-san, you must have made an error somewhere along the way. I sent the first batch of soldiers on their way almost a week ago. There should be about three hundred of them. They're a long ways from here. You can't stop them from getting to Konoha." Izumi grinned wickedly.

Stunned, Jiraiya took a step back. He recalled a few nights ago when they had checked into the hostel at the hot springs. It was filled with people to maximum capacity at that time. He never noticed that they were shinobi though. "That must mean…"

"Yeah, they're super close to Konoha by now."

"Well," Jiraiya dusted off his clothes and picked up his sword again. "That doesn't mean I'll let you lot join them as reinforcements!"

They fought for hours, it seemed. Jiraiya lost track of time, slowly becoming overwhelmed. He just hoped that his backup would arrive shortly.

Kakashi and Shisui heard the distant sounds of fighting before they saw it. The group managed to ambush and join the other Konoha shinobi and ANBU members in the fight against Izumi's men. The entire team made rendezvous at this point. They worked as one unit from the Hidden Leaf as they fought through numerous shinobi.

It was chaotic. Some of the trees caught on fire and the earth contained many cracks in the ground. But with the extra help from the newcomers, Izumi's number started to decline.

"Where's Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked while he fought.

"We saw him fighting up ahead a few minutes ago, but he must have disappeared into the forest," someone replied.

Kakashi took off into a sprint in the pointed direction. The fight was led deeper into the woods and away from the main area. He could sense Jiraiya's presence in the distance, but it was weak. He was fighting somebody.

"Got you!"

An enemy jumped at Kakashi's back, stabbing him with a kunai as he did so. Kakashi ducked, but he got cut deeply in the shoulder as a result. He took the same kunai and threw it between the ninja's eyes.

"Damnit," he cursed, holding his shoulder. Still, Kakashi pressed forwards.

Kakashi grew worried when he lost Jiraiya's sense. He couldn't detect him with the Sharingan anymore.

He ran over to a cliffside, where Izumi was on his knees, holding his bleeding chest. His weapon lay on the ground beside him. "What is an Uchiha member doing here?"

"My name is Hatake Kakashi," he stated, pulling off his ANBU mask. His Sharingan glared menacingly at the short old man. "What have you done with Jiraiya?"

"He took a dive into the river," Izumi croaked, coughing up some blood. The two of them evidently just fought in the area. Kakashi eyed the enemy's wounds carefully. "I'm pretty much done for. The last jutsu Jiraiya performed took me out." He let out a wicked laugh. "Unfortunately, it also seem to take him out as well. He passed out and fell over, inconveniently.

Kakashi eyed the edge of the cliff carefully, searching for signs of the Sage master. "Shit."

"Kakashi!"

Shisui appeared and held his sword at Izumi's neck. He was also panting heavily, but he was unharmed. "We've cleared all of the ninjas back there, but Ano said Jiraya told them there are more heading for Konoha this instance. We need to get going and catch up with them! The others already left."

"Jiraiya fell." Kakashi's heart had fallen heavily."I don't know if he's okay. But… I gotta get him."

"The village is in trouble!" Shisui glared back at Kakashi, who was clutching his shoulder. This was the first time Shisui's voice became stern. "It's our duty to protect Konoha, so we have to get going."

"I know! I know we gotta protect them! But…" Kakashi was troubled. He fell to his knees and looked over the edge of the cliff again. It was about a sixty feet drop, and the water looked fairly deep. It was possible that Jiraiya made it. "You said I was a great shinobi, but perhaps you're wrong. I'd rather go and save him."

Shisui's expression darkened. "Maybe I was wrong," he agreed.

"I'm surprised that you of all people are willing to go stop this." Izumi's voice made both of their backs turn cold. "It was you Uchiha that ordered this attack," he said to Shisui. Izumi was struggling to keep conscious, but he still held the same smirk on his face.

Shisui's face became red. He grabbed the old man's collar and pulled him up. "Why?" he growled. The Sharingan flashed, forcing Izumi to answer.

"The Uchiha clan paid us grandly. We're supposed to wipe out the head of Konoha, as promised. We're ninjas who came from ninjas that had nothing. The Uchiha clan offered us everything we could have ever wanted." Izumi spat at the ground. "That's why we didn't kill you, earlier. They wouldn't have liked it if we killed one of their own, and then they probably wouldn't have paid us as much as we wanted."

"That's sick," Kakashi stated, getting up to his feet. "Does your village only care about money?"

"I'd be criticizing your own village if I were you," Izumi retorted.

Shisui let the man drop to the ground. He took a deep breath in and drove his small sword into the old man's heart.

"I didn't know there was conflict with the Uchiha clan," Kakashi commented.

"It doesn't matter," Shisui said quietly. "Let's go."

"You go ahead. I'm getting Jiraiya-sensei." Kakashi sheathed his sword and stepped towards the edge of the cliff.

"What about the village?" Shisui exclaimed frantically. "They'll be in Konoha in a few days, and we are several days behind. We have to save them!"

"We'll catch up to them, they won't get there until tomorrow. I've already sent messengers too, so it won't be a problem."

"You don't understand." Shisui grabbed Kakashi's shoulder, stopping him from moving forward. "If they get there, then the Uchiha clan will most likely attack too. If we can stop Izumi's army before they arrive in Konoha, then the Uchiha clan will stay put for the time being. They're not going to do anything without reinforcements."

"This is crazy." Kakashi sighed. "I get it. That makes sense. Your want to protect the clan and the village. That's your way of ninja. And you know what, Shisui? I realize now that I do want to protect the village! It's my home!" Kakashi felt like the words spilling out of him were the result of years of keeping it bottled inside. "But I also care about my friends. Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash in the shinobi world."

This startled Shisui. He took a step back. "That's unlike you to say," he spoke quietly. He stared at Kakashi directly in the eyes.

"I might have failed my friends before, but I won't leave them all to die." Kakashi huffed, feeling a wave of emotion rush over himself. "There's still some lingering hope. You can go on ahead and join the others. I'm getting Jiraiya and we'll meet you there."

Kakashi gave the speechless Shisui a thumbs up, then turned and dove into the river.

When he surfaced, Kakashi found that the current was stronger than he anticipated. The water pulled him quickly, but he wasn't deterred. He swam with the current, trying to catch up to Jiraiya as quickly as possible.

He wasn't going to allow another one of his missions to go terribly wrong. Kakashi was tired of hurting. He couldn't save everyone, that's impossible, but he could very well damn try. "Sorry I broke my promise to you, Obito," Kakashi thought to himself. "But I've decided to make a promise to myself. I won't let my friends down."

Several minutes later, Kakashi spotted Jiraiya's chakra presence with his Sharingan. However, he was surprised to see himself zip right past Jiraiya without ever spotting his body. He cursed and started to swim back against the current.

He managed to pull himself up on a boulder, directly above Jiraiya's presence. Kakashi hoisted himself up on the rock, biting his teeth down at the stinging pain in his shoulder.

Jiraiya's body was underwater and seemed to be caught in something. Kakashi noticed that Jiraiya's hair was wedged between two of the boulders, keeping him from traveling down the stream.

"If I cut his hair with Raikiri while he's in the water, I might kill us," he muttered.

With all of his might, Kakashi tried to pull Jiraiya's body out of the water. His head had resurfaced, but his hair was stuck. Keeping his body out of the water and trying to stay on the boulder was also taxing. Kakashi only had a few minutes before Jiraiya would drown.

"Let me help."

Shisui hopped onto the opposite boulder and grabbed one of Jiraiya's arms. He was also soaked in the icecold water, but that didn't seem to faze him. Together, they freed the older shinobi from the water and the three of them settled ashore, drenched.

"He's alive." Kakashi smacked Jiraiya's ribs with his fist, forcibly removing inhaled water.

"Good." Shisui wiped his head with his wrist.

Kakashi sprawled on the ground, gasping for air. He managed to save Jiraiya, with Shisui's help. A sense of overwhelming pride and relief washed over him.

"Thanks for coming," Kakashi told him. His eyes were still closed, and he spoke so quietly that Shisui had to strain to hear him. "What changed your mind."

"Well, I figured you were right," Shisui said slowly. "Those who abandon their village are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than that." With every word, Shisui's expression and tone grew confident. "I've always been focused on the good of the village that I missed something important. The individual is a part of the village."

"I never used the word friend," Kakashi corrected sharply, opening his eyes. "And we haven't abandoned the village. We'll catch up."

"We will." Shisui patted Jiraiya's large stomach. "But what shall we do with him?"

"K-Kakashi." Jiraiya had opened his eyes narrowly.

"Jiraiya-sensei!"

"You both have to stop the group from reaching Konoha," Jiraiya coughed. He sat up and wrung out his white hair. "They've had several days head start. We're too far… but I have just enough energy to perform a Summoning Jutsu."

The sage coughed and shivered. He bit his thumb and performed the seal.

Kakashi and Shisui stood up in disbelief when Jiraiya summoned a giant toad. "Are we supposed to ride the toad?"

"Yeah, just hop on my back!" the toad chirped happily. "Bring Jiraiya along too. We'll float to Konoha."

"This may work," Shisui told Kakashi.

The two of them dragged Jiraiya's again-unconscious body onto the toad's giant back. The toad finally jumped into the fast-paced river.

"The river doesn't lead directly to Konoha's direction, but it leads to the path near the mountains that we had to take from Konoha," Shisui said as they rested. "It's a time-saving factor for sure. We'll be able to catch up to Izumi's group before the rest of the team."

"We may just barely make it on time."


	7. Genjutsu

While they waited, floating down the stream at an incredible speed, Kakashi tended the injuries of the group. Jiraiya was sporting many internal injuries, so they wrapped pretty much his entire body in bandages and ointment. Kakashi also fixed up his shoulder with one hand. His other arm was busy clinging onto the toad for dear life.

"Why would the Uchiha clan plan an attack like this?"

"They've been getting riled up over the last several years," Shisui explained, one arm on the toad and the other on Jiraiya's shirt. He barely had a scratch on his skin. "There's been an ongoing conflict between the clan and Konoha's leaders. I should have been informed of something like this though. This must mean that only a few of the Uchiha actually planned this. None of the other clan members were supposed to know." Shisui closed his eyes solemnly.

"What will you do, then?"

"If we can stop the group from attacking, then I can pretend that I simply acted as part of my shinobi mission. The rest of the Uchiha clan, the Hokage, and the other village leaders, will be unaware of what transpired. If the village leaders found out that the Uchiha clan planned this, they'll attack or imprison the clan for sure." Shisui took in a sharp breath. "We just need time to get them to change their mind. Come to a consensual agreement."

Shisui explained the history of the Uchiha clan to Kakashi, who listened with great interest. He explained how the leaders of the clan were getting frustrated, what the demands of both sides had been like for the past couple of years, and where the clan stood to the village.

"I love the village, and I love my clan. It pains me to watch this happen," Shisui confessed, gripping onto the toad and Jiraiya a little bit tighter.

"Understandable. You're torn between the two." Kakashi nodded his head in understanding. "The most ironic part of this conflict is that it shouldn't exist. The Uchiha clan is part of Konoha. They should be given equal treatment, and the clan should expect equal treatment."

"If only both sides could understand that." Shisui grinned halfheartedly. It was easy to talk to Kakashi, since he seemed to think about things logically. He also seemed to share Shisui's belief, and was in favour of keeping the Uchiha clan on good terms with the village.

Dusk came upon them quickly. They were grateful that the storm had passed and they were able to see the stars. As per usual, Kakashi stared up at the moon, thinking of his father and those he had lost. It was a tradition for him to stare at the moon and give a quick prayer to his father. On nights of the full moon, he felt like his father, the Wolf of Konoha, actually listened.

"I'll keep watch of Jiraiya for now, you should get some sleep," Kakashi ordered, grabbing onto the tail of Jiraiya's super long white hair. "I'll wake YOU up in a few hours."

Shisui grinned slyly. "How can I be sure you're not trying to troll me back?"

"If I say I'm gonna wake you up, so that I can get beauty sleep, then I'm gonna do it." Kakashi turned to give Shisui a pointed stare in the eye.

When morning dawned on them, Kakashi yawned and rolled over. He quickly stopped himself from falling from the toad's back into the river's cold water. "Shoot. I almost forgot." He grabbed onto Jiraiya's hair just in time.

"Morning!" Shisui and the toad both hollered. Shisui was sitting directly on the toad's head. They had been chatting for a few hours.

"Strange…" Kakashi murmured. "I don't remember taking on a watch shift last night."

"You did keep watch," Shisui lied. "And then you woke me up as promised. Right, Naka?"

The toad named Naka agreed lightheartedly. It chuckled when Kakashi groggily rubbed his eyes stuttered confusedly. "We ended up talking about our favourite movies, remember Kakashi?"

"But I don't even remember learning your name…" Kakashi trailed off. "Hey, did you use your Sharingan on me?"

It was instantly clear. The last thing Kakashi remembered was glaring at Shisui right in the eyes. The other person didn't say anything. He just chuckled in amusement.

"We're almost there. Better prepare."

By the time the river carried them to the path that would take them to Konoha, they had eaten and were back to their full strength. Jiraiya had woken up and eaten as well.

"Oh that's not medicine, Jiraiya-san." Shisui cheerfully dug through his bag, searching for some other pills. "Those were basically sleep-replacement pills."

"So you carry those around?" Kakashi raised his eyebrow. This was how Shisui managed to look alert after two full nights without sleep. "Is there any way I can buy those in bulk off of you?"

When Naka finally jumped out of the river, they found themselves on the same path they used when leaving Konoha. The village was northeast from where they stood, about a day's walk away. They thanked Naka wholeheartedly, and the toad disappeared.

"Okay, I can barely walk. You'll have to carry me." Jiraiya slumped onto the ground after his knees gave out under him.

"Let's think."

Kakashi and Shisui both had Jiraiya's arms around their heads and they carried him as quickly as possible towards Konoha. "We're heading towards Konoha, because we don't know if they're ahead of us or behind us at this point. If we see that they haven't reached Konoha yet, we'll wait for them back here. If we see them on our way to Konoha, we'll stop them from ever getting there."

Shisui's eyes were downcast. "And if they've entered Konoha…"

Concernedly, Kakashi studied Shisui's expression. He looked extremely conflicted. If it came down to it, it would be difficult to choose to fight with your clan or against it. "Do what your heart tells you to, then."

Jiraiya looked back and forth between the two. "Hey, did something happen while I was gone? Or was this while I was unconscious? Or did this happen while I fought 150 men all by myself?"

Thankfully, they didn't have to answer Jiraiya. A couple of Konoha shinobi appeared from the trees. They were the ANBU Black Ops. Both Kakashi and Shisui recognized Itachi amongst them immediately.

"Nii-san. Kakashi-senpai, Jaraiya-san." Itachi greeted them curtly.

Relieved, they relaxed a bit. Shisui handed Jiraiya off to a couple of the ANBU ninjas. "Take Jiraiya-san back to Konoha and get him treated," Itachi told them, acting as captain. "I'm going to go back with these two to retrieve the rest of their group."

They nodded and departed with the sage in tow.

"I'm glad I ran into you first. I had a talk with my father last night," Itachi told Shisui. He cautiously looked at Kakashi, not sure of how much to reveal.

"Kakashi-san knows about the clan's plot," Shisui grimly told him. "He can be trusted."

"I'll help stop the attack," Kakashi told Itachi. "In order to protect the clan's name, to protect the villagers, and to keep the peace."

At this, Itachi also relaxed around Kakashi. He turned back to Shisui. "Only four of them knew, my father being one of them to organize it. He informed me last night that I would have to prepare for this."

"Did you alert the village leaders?"

"I didn't. I wanted to stop the group before they reached Konoha, and before anybody found out."

"Thankfully," Kakashi spoke, running ahead of the group, "that was also our plan. But there are about three hundred of them and three of us. The rest of the team is far away. They won't catch up on time."

"We'll have to think of something," Shisui reassured them.

They ran together, panic arising in their chests.

The trio found Izumi's men traveling in a long but tightly packed line, back at the spot they jumped from the river. They hid in the trees, planning their next move.

"A lot of them look mildly skilled. Some aren't from this nation, and I can tell that some have special jutsu that may be hard to counter."

Silently, Kakashi watched as the line walked by. They were walking slowly, biding their time. He had discussed with the two Uchiha along the way. Even if they announced Izumi's death, the group would still go along with the attack in the promise of money.

The three of them moved to the back of the line.

"Even if we take them out from the back, their numbers will still overwhelm us," Itachi inspected.

"And there's no guarantee that all of them will remain behind to fight. Some of them will surely break off and move ahead," Kakashi added. "We can't let that happen either."

Feeling hopeless, Shisui hopped from his tree to another one, getting a closer look at the assembled line. "I have an idea. You two stay hidden."

Without another word, Shisui leapt to the ground and made his way to the back of the line. This was the only effective method Shisui could think of. He trusted that the others could pick up where he left off.

He activated his body flicker technique and began to stop in front of a group of people. Every time he stopped, he activated his Sharingan They froze in their step and ceasued all movement.

"He's pulling off genjutsu on everyone," Itachi whispered.

The two followed Shisui along the trees, keeping up with the line. The older Uchiha man was famous for his body flicker technique, since it enabled him to attack his enemies mercilessly before they could ever see him coming. But this jutsu enabled him to cast genjutsu to all of these ninja with incredible speed.

"I don't know if he'll be able to pull off the genjutsu for every single person," Itachi said quietly to Kakashi. "It's already overkill using the body flicker technique this many times."

"Shisui knows what he's doing. When he wears himself out, that's when we strike." Kakashi unsheathed his sword and took out a few of the shuriken.

Shisui was nearing the front of the line. There were about twenty people left who were still walking ahead, oblivious to their frozen comrades behind them. Kakashi watched keenly with his Sharingan for the moment Shisui's body flicker slowed. He and Itachi emerged from the trees just then, running quietly up to the fallen Uchiha.

"Stop, Nii-san!" Itachi hissed, grabbing Shisui's arm before he could get up and get to the next person. "We can take care of the rest."

Smiling gratefully, Shisui simply sat back down on the ground. Both of his eyes were closed, and beads of sweat were dripping down his face. "Good. You two can take over now."

Without another word, Kakashi began to stealthily take out the rest of the ninjas. When they noticed, it was too late. Both Kakashi and Itachi took them out with just a sword, side-byside. By the time the remaining ninjas fell to the ground, neither of them had used ninjutsu for the battle.

"Shisui's run out of chakra." The moment he was done fighting, Itachi was at the other Uchiha's side with concern. Shisui had fallen unconscious, and Itachi could feel his heartbeat had slowed down. "We need to get him back to the village immediately. He went overboard…" He frowned deeply.

"What do you suggest we do with these guys?" Kakashi gestured towards the remaining ninjas, who were all placed under genjutsu.

"Kill them." Itachi picked up Shisui and placed him on his back. "No one else can know of what was going on. I'll head back first." Then he dashed off back to the village with Shisui.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he should follow through. It seemed a little bit unfair that he could easily kill every single one of these ninjas while they were frozen. It would also take too much effort, and they would leave a huge mess behind.

Sighing, Kakashi decided to try waking one of them up. "Oy, you." He released one of them from genjutsu.

"What? Who are you? What's going on?" The short, pudgy man Kakashi had chosen shrieked frantically.

"Do you remember who you are?"

"Y-y-yes! But I don't know what I'm doing here."

"You don't recall your most recent mission?"

The man was genuinely confused. "No? I should be back at home. I don't understand."

"Well, today is your lucky day." Kakashi knew, just by looking at the man with his Sharingan, that Shisui had erased his memories and they knew nothing of the attack. "You get to wake up all your comrades and go home."

"Wh-wh-what?" The man peered at the fallen ninjas that Kakashi had killed. "What about those guys?"

"Hmm them? They were trying to attack my village, so they're not going back with you. Simple as that. Now hurry and get to it," Kakashi ordered.


	8. Friends

On a whim, Kakashi decided to pay Naruto a visit at the Academy. It had been a while since his last break. He was surprised to see that Naruto grew a couple more inches since their last encounter. The young blonde was sitting on top of an exercise bar, looking up at the sky in solitude. "Yo, Naruto."

Startled, Naruto fell from the bar, catching himself with his feet. He hung completely upside-down, but came face to face with Kakashi, who waved at his face.

"Kakashi!" he exclaimed.

After Kakashi returned to the village with the rest of the team, sending the other ninjas back to their village with the promise of renewing an alliance or treaty, Kakashi had instantly been assigned a mission to investigate Orochimaru's hideout. Sequentially, he'd been assigned missions repeatedly after each one was over. Winter passed by Konoha, which Kakashi missed entirely.

Several months later, Kakashi finally returned to Konoha without any assignments from the Hokage. This would be the first time in a while he would receive a break.

"How are you doin', kiddo?" Kakashi grinned underneath his mask, but his eye sparkled considerably. "I brought you lunch."

"Neko-Kaka, I was gonna go over to your place and ruin your room, but now I change my mind."

Naruto jumped from the bar and reached out to grab the paperbag in Kakashi's hand. However, the older man swiped it away.

"Just a moment. Are you going to tell me why you defaced the school's statue?"

The first thing Kakashi had noticed when he went to visit the Academy was the large googly eyes attached to the statue of a horse. He had seen the same stickers in Naruto's apartment a few months ago.

"Errr…." Naruto looked incredibly guilty. "No."

"'No', you're not going to tell me? Or 'no', you didn't do it?"

"Nope!" Naruto jumped up, snatched the lunch and dashed up the bar again to sit and eat.

"School is dumb," Naruto explained while eating. "I don't need to go to the Academy, because one day I'm going to be the Hokage! I've decided this while you were gone!"

"Oh?" Kakashi looked up at cliffs where the Hokage's heads were lined into the wall. "In order to become a Hokage, you need to go to school to learn how to be a ninja. Hokages also follow the rules."

Naruto crossed his arms and huffed.

Instead of lecturing him, Kakashi just laughed. "How is that jutsu that I taught you?"

"I keep practicing it, but it's completely different than the one they're teaching us at school." Naruto hummed a couple of times. "But I'm slowly getting it. I'm also working on a new jutsu too! I'll show you when it's done!"

When Naruto finished his lunch and went to return to his classes, Kakashi was at a loss of what to do next. There were errands he could run, so he decided to head towards the market.

A bookstore caught his eye, and he entered it curiously. It had been a while since Kakashi picked up a good book to read. He remembered the last book he had bought. It was titled "How a Shinobi Should Die."

Shaking his head, Kakashi decided to pick something out lighter to read. He found a couple of romance novels written by Jiraiya. "Oh? That'll be interesting," he thought to himself, picking them off the shelf.

Leaving the bookstore, Kakashi caught Gai eating in an open restaurant with a few friends. He was glad he spotted Gai before the other one caught sight of him. Then he could always change his course of direction.

Except that Kakashi didn't turn around. He walked by anyways, holding Jiraiya's Makeout Paradise book. As expected, Gai noticed him and waved.

"Hey Kakashi! Come join us for some ribs!"

Kakashi held out a hand to wave back hesitantly. He wasn't planning on actually sitting down and eating with them.

"Oh come now, Kakashi." Somebody behind him took his arm gently and pulled him along. "A small bite won't hurt." Yuhi Kurenai dragged him into the shop and they sat down cross legged beside Gai.

"That's the spirit!" Gai exclaimed, pumping a fist. "Is that a new book you're reading, Kakashi?"

He turned the book away. "Let's order some pork and shrimp, shall we?" he changed the subject.

While they ate, Gai and Kurenai immersed themselves in small talk. "Asuma visited the other day. There's a chance he'll come back to stay soon," Kurenai informed them. "Said something about being homesick."

"Can I ask you guys something?"

Shocked, Gai choked on the tea he was drinking, and Kurenai dropped her chopsticks. "Nani?"

"What happened to Jiraiya-sensei after he left the hospital?"

"Oh that." Kurenai closed her jaw and smiled. Gai on the other hand still completely amazed. "After he recovered, Jiraiya said he had to go travel, so he headed east. He left a message saying he won't be back for some time. So if you need to contact him, writing him a letter is probably best."

"I see." Kakashi continued to eat, keeping a cool composure as always.

"That other man from that one mission, Uchiha Shisui, he was also in the hospital for quite a few days. He also recovered, but I haven't seen him around the village since. Maybe he went on a mission."

After they finished eating, Kakashi quickly excused himself and left. By this time, Gai managed to recover from choking earlier. "Is it just me, or is Kakashi a lot… warmer than he used to be?" Kurenai asked him.

"Could it be… that he's found another rival?" Gai wondered. "This can't be!"

"Stop it, Gai. Kakashi isn't into that sort of competitive thing. There must be something else. I think we may be able to get through to Kakashi. But you know what would be interesting?" Kurenai suddenly had a gleam in her eye.

"I don't like where this is going."

"What if we helped Kakashi meet a girl? This is our chance, while he's in a good mood, and while he's not swamped with ANBU missions." Kurenai started to giggle. Gai sweatdropped. "This is going to be so much fun."

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Kakashi walked near the entrance to the Uchiha district. He passed briefly by the orphanage that Naruto used to live in. He looked up, feeling a mixed array of emotions.

"Enjoying a day off, Kakashi-senpai?"

"It seems like it, Tenzou. How does it feel to work for ANBU? Have you gotten used to it now?"

"I like it a lot better than working for Root. It's a shame they placed me in a different team for the past few missions." He glanced over at the Uchiha district. "Is there something the matter?"

"There are things I haven't discussed with the Uchiha clan yet. I think it's about time I ought to. Remember your last mission as part of the formation?" Kakashi was referring to the mission where Danzo assigned Tenzou to obtain Kakashi's Sharingan.

"I think it's a good idea to warn them. But be careful, senpai."

There were a million thoughts racing in Kakashi's head as he entered the district.

"Hey!" Shisui greeted him as he approached Itachi's family home. "If you're looking for Itachi, he just left with his father."

"That's alright, I guess. I did manage to find you. I was going to walk around the district until I saw a familiar face."

The pair of them headed towards the lake and sat at the dock, far away from the ears of others.

"I never got a chance to thank you," Shisui told him. "You helped prevent the clan and the village from clashing. By doing so, you've protected the Uchiha name, as well as the village."

"It made sense to do so at the time." Kakashi picked up a stone and threw it across the lake. "You also helped me rescue Jiraiya."

"But that's the thing. I've opened my eyes a little, thanks to you." Shisui smiled warmly, throwing a stone into the lake as well. "I want nothing more than peace for this village. But maybe I've been doing things wrong. I should be thinking of my friends and family too, not just what's good for the village. That's why I think you're a great ninja. You look out for others."

Shaking his head, Kakashi disagreed. "I'm not that great and noble shinobi you're thinking of. I'm part of the ANBU Black Ops, whose only purpose is to kill and serve."

"You didn't kill those men that I place under my genjutsu. Everything ended peacefully after that," Shisui pointed out. "The mission was successfully completed, and you said if that happened, I can acknowledge that you're a good shinobi. Do you remember?"

"I… do?" Kakashi strained his head to recall their conversations.

"After those events, the Hokage and village leaders were unaware that the Uchiha clan had anything to do with the attack. They also only believed that there were far fewer people involved in the attack, thanks to the genjutsu. The rest clan was also unaware what happened. They would have been informed to prepare to fight when Itachi gave his father the signal. Furthermore, those who planned the attack believe I was unaware of Izumi's true intentions."

"I guess things did run smoothly. Most of the credit goes to you. There's a reason people in other nations fear you. How long were you in the hospital for?"

"Only a for several days, but I exhausted all of my chakra. I was in bed for about two months after that. My family and my clan believed that I became sick and left me alone while I was recovering."

"What's your plan now, in building the connection between the clan and the village? Changing Itachi's father's mind?"

"That's the first step I'm going to take. But it'll be difficult."

"To make things more difficult, I have some news for you, which was the reason I came by in the first place." Kakashi pointed to his left, covered up eye. "Danzou tried to take my Sharingan several months ago. This was just before I met you."

"Really?" Shisui frowned.

"I don't know what he has planned, but whatever it is, I don't like it. Be careful. If he's desperate for an eye, he could take it from anybody who has it activated in the clan."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Shisui nodded appreciatively. "This was the only reason you stopped by?"

"Yeah. I should head back now. I'll help in whatever way I can, once you and Itachi have come up with a plan."

The two of them walked to the edge of the Uchiha district. "You're the only other person that knows of this conflict, other than the higher-ups," Shisui informed him. "We have a clan meeting in a few nights. I can inform you of everything that's discussed, if you're interested."

"I'd be happy t-" Kakashi was interrupted when a female voice called out his name.

"Kakashi! I finally found you!"

He stared in disbelief as Kurenai and Gai ran up the street towards him. They weren't dressed in their normal shinobi attire. Instead, Kurenai wore a fitting dress, and Gai wore something similarly akin to a suit.

"What's going on with you two?" Kakashi said suspiciously. He doubted that those two were on a date.

"We have a surprise for you," Kurenai said sweetly.

"Hey you!" Gai gestured towards Shisui, who stood behind Kakashi. "Are you Kakashi's new rival?"

He chuckled. "Rivals? I don't think we've competed in anything…"

"Good! He's MY rival, okay? Kakashi and I are eternal rivals," Gai boasted. Kakashi slapped his forehead.

"Gai, that's Uchiha Shishui," Kurenai whispered in his ear. "He was in the year ahead of us, and is famous for the Body Flicker Technique."

Gai deadpanned. Before they knew it, he started to apologize profusely and bowing to the Uchiha member.

"This isn't right. I must add another fifty push-ups to my training schedule!"

"Are you busy tonight, Kakashi?" Kurenai inquired, pushing Gai aside.

"Well, I was going to go home and read these new books I bought…"

"Great, you're free! We've got a surprise waiting for you tonight at 7. We'll go to your place, just to make sure you're not late."

"There's no excuse this time," Gai told him definitely.

Kakashi groaned in protest. "I don't like where this is going." Was he getting soft?

Behind him, Shisui made a noise expressing amusement. "I'll leave you to your surprise then, Kakashi. Nice meeting you, Kurenai-san, Gai-san." The dark-haired man bowed his head and returned back to the Uchiha district.

Amazed, Gai started blushing furiously. "He knows my name," he repeated. "I am so HONOURED by that."

"You make a big deal out of everything," Kakashi said, rolling his eyes.

"It seems like you two have become good friends though," Kurenai noticed. This sent Gai into another spiraling state of upset. "It won't take long tonight. Dress in something nice."

He didn't give them a response as he turned around to walk the other direction. But he didn't give a snarky response either. Kurenai decided to take that as a good sign.


	9. Restless

"This is Rei Mayura. She's a nurse at the Konoha hospital, and a distant relative of mine." Kurenai happily introduced an auburn-haired, petite girl who was approximately eighteen years old. "This is Hatake Kakashi." Mayura blushed, holding out her hand for Kakashi to shake.

Kakashi stared blankly at Mayura. Then he stared blankly down at her hand. Since he had gotten home, he hadn't changed or showered yet. He had begun reading the book written by Jiraiya and hadn't given Kurenai or Gai much thought.

"He's part of the ANBU Black Ops, that's why he's so quiet and distant. Excuse him," Kurenai apologized meekly. "He also forgot all about his manners," she hissed into his ear.

"Ooh, I like the mysterious type," Mayura said brightly.

Kakashi glared at Gai, who put up his hands defensively. "This was not my idea," he mouthed.

"This is the surprise you had planned for me?" Kakashi spoke out loud, ignoring Mayura's hand. She retracted it, but still held on a big smile.

"Oh I see, I was a lovely surprise to you, Onii-san?" Mayura batted her eyelashes briefly.

"Well nice to meet you, Mayura-san. Have a good evening." Kakashi promptly closed the door.

Kurenai intercepted him before it shut. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"You said it was just a brief surprise," he repeated monotonously.

"Entertain us just this once, Hatake Kakashi," Kurenai said sharply, speaking louder and more confidently. "Be a gentleman and at least show this girl inside." She didn't give him any time to respond. "Oh what was that, Kakashi-san? We'd love to come upstairs to see your apartment!"

Mayura giggled in excitement. "That's great, we can tell each other more about ourselves."

The next two hours consisted of Kakashi pouring wine for the group (which Gai had bought on Kakashi's behalf and his tab) and listening to Mayura ramble on about what she did as a nurse. She spent about twenty minutes talking about her relationship problems with her friends, which was enough to bore Kakashi to death.

"I'm going to kill these two," Kakashi muttered absentmindedly.

"Did you say something, Kakashi-san?" Mayura squealed in delight.

"Nothing."

Mayura wasn't a shinobi, she only worked as a nurse at the hospital. She couldn't treat anyone with chakra, but knew how to deal with medicine and herbs well. She complained about the other doctors and nurses that she worked with.

"It's so difficult. They're always giving me a tough time, making me work at really late hours. I hate that part. In the end, I always do it, but do they appreciate me?" Mayura said to the group.

When they finally left his apartment, Kakashi closed the door behind him and sank to the floor. It was a pretty uneventful meeting, despite Kurenai and Gai's excitement over it. Gai constantly stated that it was weird for Kakashi to be socializing at all, so they were taking advantage of it.

"I've never even thought about anybody for the future," he muttered.

The only girl he ever had in his life was Rin. She was a dear friend of his, and he did love her as much as a friend could. If Rin had lived and they grew up together, he was sure that he would have eventually fallen for her.

Except that the Rin he knew died when they were still just kids. Kakashi would always love her deeply as a friend, just as he loved Obito, his other friend and comrade.

Suddenly a tear slid down his cheek. He was stunned. He never acknowledged before, even to himself, that he loved anybody.

He was still annoyed as heck that Gai and Kurenai tried to set him up with another girl. He wasn't going to be interested in dating any time soon, let alone a girl like Mayura.

"Same thing next Friday," they had told him.

As if he'd still be in Konoha by Friday.

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Uchiha Sora had been growing restless. He and his brother Yashiro sat in their home, waiting for more people to arrive for their short meeting.

When Fugaku, Itachi and Sasuke's father, arrived, they stood and bowed deeply. "What is it you'd wanted to discuss?" he asked them.

"As our clan leader, I thought I would inform you first." Both brothers had tears in their eyes. "Our little sister died in the Konoha hospital today."

"I'm sorry for your loss. No, I'm sorry for OUR loss," Fugaku corrected. "Forgive me, but there must be a bigger reason you called the leader of the clan to pay you a visit?"

"We've had enough with the village. They wouldn't give our sister the treatment right away," Sora told Fugaku, his voice turning into a sob.

"Her name was very low on the waitlist for a transplant," Yushiro explained. "It's another act of discrimination against our clan. We won't take it anymore."

"I see."

Inside Fugaku's head, his mind was spinning. "We'll do our best to avenge your sister. I know exactly how you two feel, I can empathize completely. Therefore, it'll be my responsibility to help you with what you desire. Sora. Yushiro. Will you two promise me the utmost loyalty in return?"

"Of course, Fugaku-sama," they chorused.

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"Nani?!"

"Every ANBU ninja is required to take a certain number of days off per year," the Hokage explained. "You've been so preoccupied with work that we're forcing you to take some time to rest and recover. This is an order."

"Hokage-sama, can you please at least let my vacation start AFTER this Friday?" Kakashi pleaded.

He left the office, wondering where his dignity had gone. "I'll have to find some other means of escaping Konoha. Or I can take Naruto out for ramen. Maybe hide in the park until it's all over."

"Kakashi-senpai, you're not supposed to be here." Tenzou had opened the door to their ANBU meeting room, but blocked it from entry. "The Hokage has given me strict orders. You're not allowed to work with us until next month."

"Come on, Tenzou," Kakashi nudged him. "We're pals. Just let me help you organize the meeting, at least."

Tenzou held out a hand and a piece of wood shot from it. The wooden piece wrapped itself around Kakashi and dragged him towards the Headquarter's exit.

"See you after your vacation, senpai," Tenzou called out to him.

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Uchiha Shisui left the clan meeting feeling more perplexed than when he entered. The group had started to discuss the possibility of a coup d'etat. They were moving their strategic plans a lot faster than Shisui anticipated.

"Kakashi suggested that the only way around this is to change Fugaku-san's mind, as well as the other heads of the clan," Shisui told Itachi as they practice together, hidden in the trees of the forest near the district.

"What could we possibly say to change my father's mind? You know how he is," Itachi replied, sparring casually with his friend. "Nii-san, the village elders have been approaching me with offers on how to deal with the clan. Any of these can go into effect in just a few short months. They've already started to increase monitor of the Uchiha clan."

"Get them to give us more time. We've got to consider a lot of possible factors."

"I'll try."

"Meanwhile, I think it's better if you told your father that they've increased security over the district. This will slow down the coup d'etat too."

"Additionally, they won't do to coup without everyone present. It's going to be my job to send as many ninjas as possible on missions outside of Konoha, one after the other, to interfere with this."

"That will buy us quite some time. Good thinking, Shisui."

"In the meanwhile, we should discuss with Hokage-sama about the next plan of action. If only we can work out an agreement."

When Shisui returned to his home, he found that his uncle and aunt were sound asleep. His younger cousins were still up playing a couple of games, but they immediately fled when they saw Shisui.

"Ssh. I promise I won't tell if you go to bed," he whispered, smiling gently.

He took a quick shower, trying to clear his head. At twenty-one years, he was cleverer than most people his age. Shisui was one of the top shinobi in Konoha, therefore most respected and also most feared. He was one of the most respected shinobi of the Uchiha clan, while Itachi was making a bigger name for himself slowly.

Furthermore, Hiruzen and the village elders trusted him. Other jounins and chunins in Konoha looked up to him. He couldn't let them down.

But it felt useless. No matter what angle Shisui tried to take, he felt like there was no way to change the dispute with the clan and the village. He felt extremely lost.

"I may have to use Kotoamatsukami on the clan," he thought to himself. "Eventually, if things get out of hand."

Maybe there was still time to get the clan to change their mind. He didn't know how approach it. Even Itachi wasn't able to get through to his father, Fugaku.

His aunt had left him some mail on his desk. One of them included a letter in handwriting Shisui had never seen before. He curiously opened the letter, which was addressed from Kakashi.

"I'll be training at the Ryota Park in the mornings. Feel free to stop by. –Kakashi," he read out loud.

The next morning, Shisui strolled over a bridge. He spotted Kakashi sitting on the ground with a book in his face.

"Is this how you spend your mornings training?"

"I was waiting for my target to show up," Kakashi replied. He put the book down and delivered a kick.

The two spread apart, holding their respective fighting stances. Neither of them had weapons on them. "So I'm your practice dummy for this morning?" Shisui smiled widely. "I'm not going to go easy on you. We're no longer comrades on the same team."

They struck each other with taijutsu moves. Kakashi beamed when he saw that Shisui wasn't holding back. "I just wanted to evaluate your moves."

Testing his strength, Shisui made hand signals for a fireball jutsu, but Kakashi grabbed his arms and threw him over his shoulder. Shisui landed softly on his feet and tried to do the jutsu again.

"You have some confidence in your abilities," Shisui remarked. He noticed that Kakashi's Sharingan was covered up.

Every time Shisui tried to grab Kakashi, it seemed like he could see his movement and dodged it. After a couple of attempts, Shisui knew what was up. Kakashi wanted to observe his body flicker technique.

"Nice try, but I can defeat you without using that technique or my Sharingan."

A few minutes later, Kakashi was sprawled on his back. The wind had been knocked out of him. His arms and legs were sore, and his pride was gone. Still, he let out a laugh. "I knew I couldn't win against you. Yet you're the one callng me a great shinobi every chance you get."

Shisui stood above Kakashi's fallen body and crossed his arms. "Defeated without even using my eyes."

"Even if we did a battle of eyes, you would still win. Shisui, you outnumber me in Sharingan number."

"I wonder if it's possible to wake up your Mangekyo Sharingan."

"Possibly. But since it's a borrowed eye, it might take more effort than normal."

"Are you going to ambush me again?" His tone was full of tease, daring Kakashi to try and fight him again.

"No, I won't. My eternal rival might get envious one of these days," Kakashi joked.

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"You're acting odd today, Kakashi-senpai."

Itachi found Kakashi and Shisui boarded up in one of the meeting rooms at the Hokage's headquarters. The moment he entered, Kakashi had jumped and hid his face under the table. Mildly paranoia would have perfectly described his behaviour.

"Sorry. It's Friday," Kakashi mumbled.

"We've been discussing the clan's situation," Shisui explained.

"I see. So he's helping?"

"You don't need to do everything alone, Itachi-kun." Kakashi straightened up in his chair. "You have Shisui here, and now you have my help."

"We have an advantage here. The elders don't know that Kakashi is willing to help the Uchiha clan," Shisui told Itachi. "He'll have a bigger influence over them. So we were thinking that we should convince Hiruzen-sama to give in to one of the Uchiha's requests. Eventually, we're hoping they can come to an understanding."

"One of the clan's problems lately has been the tightening of security in the district," Itachi said slowly. "I don't think the elders will loosen that."

"That's actually a good idea," Kakashi spoke. "If we were to decrease the security over the Uchiha clan, then they'll feel more comfortable and start to trust the village."

"Okay, how do we convince them to do that?" Itachi questioned.

Kakashi bit tongue and thought back. Hiruzen most likely agreed to that demand in the best interest of Konoha. The aging Hokage probably would have preferred if they didn't have ninjas spying on their own village people. "I suspect Danzou has his own ninjas from the Formation monitoring the village. It's not the best idea to try to change his mind. I think if we can convince the Council to give the Uchiha a grace period, then that's a start."

"If that comes to pass, then at the next meeting we have to jump at it," Shisui determined. "We'll put the Council and the village in a good light."

There didn't seem to be any way the situation could get worse. Itachi nodded his head contemptly. "That sounds like a plan for now."


	10. The Festival

**The Festival**

**Author's Note: So this is a story where I wrote the majority of in just one sitting, although I haven't completed the ending yet. I've basically been cutting the story at sections and pasting them into chapters instead of dedicating each chapter to a specific idea. I realize that sometimes it doesn't flow nicely, or there are some errors with spelling or grammar. Eventually, I'll be going back and fixing these errors. Stick with me please! **

**For all of you who have read this far, I'll just add a couple notes about this story. I don't know how it ends, because I've thought of several scenarios and outcomes and I don't know which to choose. They're all wicked. We'll see as the story progresses. **

**Will there be romance in this story? Probably minimal. Just going to answer that right now. **

**After this chapter, I won't have any more material to post right away. I have a general outline of what's to come. If you have any input or comments, feel free to leave them! **

"Neko-Kaka, come help me with my training!"

"Are you ever going to give me a proper nickname?" Kakashi wondered. He sat in the middle of Naruto's living room floor amidst a pile of dirty clothes and empty ramen containers. There were two things on his mind at the moment: the compulsion to clean up the mess for his own physical sake and the raised question on how Naruto was able to survive in this niche. "How are we supposed to train in a place so messy?"

"Are you gonna teach me or not?" Naruto demanded, crossing his arms. He stood in front of the older man, trying to act big and tall.

"I have another idea," Kakashi suggested instead. There was another reason he visited Naruto that day. He hadn't ever planned on being Naruto's ninja teacher, despite the little kid's hopeful requests. "I was hoping we could go out today. Let's visit the town hall. I hear they're having a festival today, and there should be games and kids your age."

"Are the kids from the Academy going to be there?"

There was a hopeful glint in Naruto's eyes.

"Students from the academy, their parents, siblings, other ninjas like me, and even the Hokage might attend."

Despite Naruto's earlier interest in the idea, at Kakashi's words his smile turned into a frown. "I don't want to go anymore."

Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi spotted a large bug. It was crawling slowly on the wall near Naruto's window. With a jump, Kakashi leapt to his feet and pulled Naruto with him.

"I forgot! I'm an adult and I have the power of making everything I say come to pass! You, a child, have to listen to whatever I say."

"Aww, come on Kakashi! I don't want to go to that! I don't even listen to my teachers at school, why would I have to listen to you?!" the six year old shrieked as they made their escape from the roach infested apartment.

When they got to the town hall courtyard, Naruto thought that the entire village must have gone to the festival. The courtyard was packed with families, balloons, and tents that were pitched up for events. There must be a hundred activities going on in the village that day. "Whoa."

Back in the orphanage, Naruto never remembered being taken out to festivals. The earliest party-like event he attended was the first of Academy, yet he had shown up late and nearly missed it.

"Apparently, today is the anniversary of Konoha's Founding. It's a celebration of our ancestors and the acknowledgement of Konoha's village history," Kakashi said, leaning on a thin tree. Naruto was entranced by the decorative art that the village had put up. There were red and blue leaves decorated on every single stand. "Traditionally, lanterns are lit and released into the sky at night. During the day, they play a lot of games and do reenactments of famous battles."

"This… is… so cool!" Naruto gaped at a meatball stand hungrily. "Kaka, did you ever go as a kid with your parents?"

"Oh, my father never took me." Kakashi found it odd that he spoke with such a light tone. "I didn't have time to go during the Third Shinobi War. So this will be my first time in a long while."

"This is so much better than ninja training!"

They toured around the stalls for a little bit, buying junk food and occasionally entering in one of the games. Kakashi watched Naruto lightly as he engulfed himself in throwing water balloons and winning stuffed animals. It was entertaining, to say the least. He was surprised at himself for having a decent time.

Kakashi's initial intention was to get Naruto out of his shell, but he didn't want to waste an opportunity that the day provided. While walking around, he formed an idea in his head.

"Do you see any of your classmates around, Naruto?"

"Oh? Hmm…" Naruto hopped up onto a bench and scanned the area. "I see Kiba's and Sakura's families over there. And Sasuke is over there fighting a training dummy," he muttered darkly. "He's always showing off."

Reaching into his bag, Kakashi retrieved a couple of objects. He tossed a spray can to Naruto and clutched one himself. "Hey Naruto… you enjoy making other people's lives a little more complicated by pulling off pranks, right?"

"I think so? Yes I do!"

"What would you say to combining that hobby of yours into a game with me?"

Naruto looked down and read the instructions on the spray bottle. His eyes slowly lit up in excitement.

"Awesome! Kakashi, I always thought you were a boring stickler for the rules."

In response, Kakashi could have facepalmed himself. His shoulders sagged. "So that's your opinion of me."

"I only like you because of your hair, Neko-Kaka. But now you're cool!"

"Use your ninja stealth and don't get caught. We'll find each other in one hour, okay? It'll be a competition between Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake kakashi." Kakashi grinned mischievously.

They separated and weaved in through the people enjoying the games and activities. A relay race caught his eye, which was a father-son three-legged race. There were many jounins and chunins he recognized. Most of them were all several years older than he was. Unfortunately, Kakashi was unable to identify the people he was searching for.

"Hatake Kakashi? It's been a long time, hasn't it?" A chunin Kakashi recognized greeted him, holding a baby toddler in his arms. He was a fidgety type of person, if Kakashi recollected from his Academy days. "Didn't think you'd be here, out of all people."

"I brought a kid down to the festival. Thought it would cheer him up."

"I guess the rumours are true, then. They say you've softened up and became more social. We talked about you at our weekly card game session. Feel free to come and grab a hand one of these days."

Their small talk led them into one of the tents, and Ichiro ordered some tea for them. Ichiro was holding his baby toddler with great difficulty, who wanted nothing more but to leave. The oblivious father continued to tell Kakashi stories about how he met his wife and what their kid was like.

Ichiro was also oblivious to his son's new scratching post, which was the closest object he would find. This happened to be Kakashi's arm.

"Oh wait, I was supposed to meet up with my wife and her sister by the fountain! Will you excuse me, Kakashi, as I go and grab them?"

"Sure, that'll be fine." He was a little bit distracted at the moment.

"Great. Be careful with Tenochi. If he gets cranky, he'll start to bite."

Deadpanning, Kakashi found the little boy in his lap a moment later. He had not expected to be left behind babysitting the devil itself. Kakashi prayed for the strength to not release his Sharingan on a little infant.

"Hey, aren't you a little young to be a father?" a stranger beside Kakashi asked.

Kakashi choked on his tea, causing his eyes to well up. He hadn't noticed the person sitting down next to him. "Excuse me. Sorry. This isn't my son, he's a… um… I'm officially of age now, so no I'm not that young to be a dad. But I'm not."

"Relax, I'm just messing with ya. I saw the kid's father earlier."

The stranger had dark brown hair and a stern looking face. He looked like he was in his mid-40's; there were wrinkles on his forehead, cheeks, and around his mouth. This person didn't look like they laughed or joked often, which made Kakashi stare at the man with disbelief. This man here was making fun of him?

"My name is Uchiha Fugaku, I have two sons of my own. Excuse me, you look like you're still a teen. But if you say you're an adult, then I shouldn't judge! I'll buy you a round of sake."

Kakashi smiled inwardly. Who knew that he would run into the head of the Uchiha clan here of all places? He had hoped to see Fugaku enter the race with Sasuke earlier that day, but the chances of that had been slim. Overall, he was glad he ran into an Uchiha. Now he could start working on his plan.

"Unfortunately, I have quite a few more years until that happens. I'm nowhere close to marriage," Kakashi informed him, accepting the cup of sake graciously. "Thank you, Fugaku-san. My name is Hatake Kakashi."

"Ah, I thought so." It seemed like Fugaku's resting expression consisted of deathly glaring and menace. Kakashi hoped so, because his face showed one thing but his voice indicated the opposite. "I suspected from your white hair and your hidden left eye. That eye is the pride and passion of our clan. Despite your blood, you represent us in all of your fights and achievements."

This man had no boundaries. Or perhaps his boundary line was very thin. Either way, Kakashi had to keep his pride in check and allow the older man to act this way. "The Uchiha clan is the pride of Konoha. Without them, the village wouldn't have existed."

"You're damned right about that." Fugaku took a shot, ignoring Ichiro's son wailing in Kakashi's lap.

It took a lot of guts for Kakashi to sit there and suck up. More importantly, it took a lot of sake and tea. Patience would be his friend one day, Kakashi thought.

He spotted several members of the Uchiha clan enter the tent, sporting the Uchiha crescent on their clothing. The man waved them over, and Kakashi was pleased to see that Shisui was amongst them.

Shisui gave Kakashi a dumbstruck expression. At first, Kakashi assumed it was because he was sharing drinks with Itachi's father. One smack in the face by a chibi hand reminded Kakashi that he still had a bratty kid in his lap.

Knowingly, Shisui did not acknowledge Kakashi in front of Fugaku. He simply sat down and ordered some alcohol.

"Oh my gosh! Kakashi, I didn't know you came to see me at the festival."

It couldn't be true. Kakashi held his breath and counted to three, hoping that it was his imagination. Yet when he looked, his worst fears were confirmed.


	11. Lanterns

"Mayura-chan, you know Kakashi?" Ichiro inquired. He had taken his son back into his arm and was standing with his arm around his wife. Her sister stood beside them, smiling all ears.

"I'm so happy you came, Kakashi! Come on, you have to meet my parents. They're over at the lantern making booth with my nieces." She grabbed his arm and tugged him out of his seat.

"Sorry, Fugaku-san. Thank you for the sake, but it seems I'm being dragged away," he said quickly, fighting Mayura's pull desperately. Kakashi would rather take back the toddler devil.

"Not close to marriage at all, you said?" Fugaku gave him a pointed look, which made Kakashi feel even more horrified. "That's okay, you should go off on your way. Take care, Hatake Kakashi."

Elsewhere, Naruto had managed to sneak into every station undetected. He was having the time of his life eating and running around. He ran into his classmates, who surprisingly greeted him in response.

"Argh, Naruto!" a pink-haired girl named Sakura screamed. "No I don't want cotton candy from you!" She threw it onto the ground and stormed off.

"Aw, Sakura-chan," he said gloomily at her retreating back.

He tripped over an object on the ground. Naruto's mind had wandered from Kakashi's prank to his tiny crush. "Ow, what's that?" Naruto rubbed his ankle painfully.

A dagger was sheathed in black leather with a familiar white and red logo on its handle. Naruto picked it up curiously. On closer inspection, he saw that it was a lot longer than a dagger, but shorter than a sword. He couldn't believe he was that distracted to trip over something so thin.

"Hey, that's mine."

A dark-haired boy loomed over Naruto on the ground. Sasuke was wearing a blue shirt with white pants, just like the clothes from training at the Academy. He sighed when he saw it was Naruto.

"If it's yours, then why is it lying around the place, causing people to trip over it!" Naruto shouted indignantly.

Sasuke didn't like Naruto's tone. "Give that back."

"I wasn't going to take it," Naruto declared defensively, dropping the dagger. "There's no need to be such a jerk."

"I'm not the one who's stealing personal items from someone else."

This made Naruto furious. "Who are you calling a thief?" he shouted, his face growing hotter by the second. "Why don't take it out in the arena over there? Iruka-sensei can't boss us in there."

Surprisingly, Sasuke accepted the offer. "You're on. I'll teach you a lesson, you annoying person-"

"Ya right! I'll be the one teaching you a lesson, you jerk!"

"Sasuke, there you are." Itachi emerged from the crowd of people in search of his younger brother. He smiled when he found them. "Is this one of your friends, Sasuke?"

"No we aren't!" the two shouted in unison.

Itachi bent down to pick up the dagger that Naruto had dropped. He ignored their obvious antagonism. "Isn't this Shisui's aikuchi blade?"

"Nii-san let me borrow it for the kata demonstration," Sasuke informed him.

"He thought I was trying to steal it!" Naruto complained and pointed a finger. "But Sasuke was the one who lost it!"

"I did not lose it!" Sasuke fumed.

"You two need to settle down," Itachi said calmly, pocketing the blade. He placed a hand on Sasuke's head and ruffled his hair. "That's not how classmates act towards each other."

"Nii-san, are we staying for the lantern display?"

"Mother and father will be going home, but I'll stay with you, Sasuke."

"Hey, are you forgetting something?" Naruto demanded. "You and me gotta spar in the arena. We'll see who's the best ninja in all of Konoha!"

"You're on, you annoying jerk!"

**235809235802**

Gratefully, Kakashi managed to break away from Mayura and her parents before he was supposed to meet up with Naruto. He hadn't listened to a word of their stories, but Mayura's parents were oblivious like her. Despite Kakashi's disinterest, they kept talking to and ogling over their daughter's supposed boyfriend.

But luck seemed to be in Kakashi's favour now. The canopy they sat under broke apart and created a mess of paint all over the booth. Everyone had shrieked when their clothes got ruined.

Kakashi managed to escape unscathed from the paint massacre. When he was out of eyesight from Mayura and her family, he breathed a sigh of relief. Now he had to look for Naruto.

It wasn't going to take long. A loud commotion from the crowd caught his attention. There was a bang, followed by several screams. Kakashi instantly formed a defensive state and followed the noise.

He was taken back when he also heard laughter coming from the ruckus. "Oh, I guess Naruto's there."

Kakashi recognized the blonde mop of hair rolling on the ground, bumping into several signs and people.

Another part of the rolling mess was Sasuke, who was fighting with Naruto. The two had teared each other's shirts and were wrestling for each other's necks.

"The match is over, yet they're still going at it," Kakashi eavesdropped. "This is hilarious."

Kakashi walked over to the bunch and pulled Naruto out of the mess, who was still kicking and raging. He reminded Kakashi of the toddler he from before.

On the ground, Sasuke had gotten up, but Itachi got to him before he could jump at Naruto, who was dangling in the air in Kakashi's grip.

"You've been spending your time causing a scene when you could have been trying to beat me at our game," Kakashi scolded.

Naruto crossed his arms and huffed. "He started it."

"Sorry about Sasuke," Itachi apologized. "Sorry everyone." He bowed to the crowd of onlookers.

"This is embarrassing," Naruto muttered under his breath. The villagers were looking down at him again; he could feel their stares and hear their whispers.

"Oy, let's take a break and get something to eat."

This lightened up Naruto immediately. "Yeah, let's go get ramen, Kaka-Neko!"

"Itachi, would you and Sasuke-kun like to join us?"

Was Kakashi pretending he hadn't seen the disaster Sasuke and Naruto just caused minutes prior?

"I'm a bit hungry. We should definitely eat something before they light the lanterns," Itachi agreed.

Sasuke and Naruto refused to look at each other.

The sun was sinking below the horizon slowly. Even though it was getting dark, there were still many people hustling around. Kakashi let the way to a ramen shop nearby, which was also decorated in red and blue paper leaves.

They found Shisui sitting at the ramen bar with a couple other clan members. Itachi gestured for Kakashi to join with them. The two Academy students followed sullenly.

"Did something happen?" Shisui said worriedly, looking at the bruises and dirt on the faces of both Sasuke and Naruto.

"They got into a little squabble. No big deal," Kakashi answered, ruffling Naruto's hair.

Naruto's bad mood didn't linger too long. He golfed down a bowl of ramen and requested for more within a few minutes. "Neko-Kaka, what have you been doing all day?" Naruto asked innocently.

"Oh me?" Kakashi grew flustered and rubbed the back of his head. "I was at the mercy of a devil and a clingy parasite."

Naruto didn't understand Kakashi's words sometimes. He was only six.

"Kakashi-senpai, is it true that the Hokage has ordered you to spend the next four weeks off duty?" Itachi inquired, keeping an eye on his little brother, who was eager to slip away from the group.

"Yeah, but I'd rather less people knew about my current situation."

Shisui laughed knowingly. He remembered Gai and Kurenai. "Is it because of your friends?"

"For undisclosed reasons."

"They're lighting up the lanterns soon!" someone called out. The group stayed sitting at the ramen bar, but turned to observe the night sky. Usually, the village was lit up by lamps at night. They were about to turn those off in order to visualize the lanterns in the sky more clearly.

Naruto started to giggle in-between his bites. "This is going to be good," he whispered. Three seats down, where Sasuke was wedged between Itachi and Shisui, the youngest Uchiha frowned suspiciously.

Spectators gathered together in the middle of the village, holding their makeshift lanterns and balloons. There was a lot of cheer in the crowd as they prepared for the release.

"After a countdown, we'll turn off all the lights in the city and release our lanterns. In celebration of this holiday," someone announced.

When the lights to the city went out, there was a collective gasp. The buildings, the stalls, shops, lanterns, and people were all glowing with red or blue light. Everyone looked at their shirts in awe and shock.

"Somebody sprayed fluorescent dye over everything?" Shisui said wondrously.

"It was you! Naruto!" Sasuke accused angrily. He and Itachi had red paint sparkling all over their clothes. It only glowed because all the artificial light went out. Itachi was mildly amused and wasn't bothered by the paint It would come out with some water.

Naruto and Kakashi were grinning at each other. Eventually, the younger one began to burst out in howling laughter.

"No way, there's paint on my jumpsuit too!" Narutoe exclaimed after a moment.

Sure enough, a splotch of blue paint formed an X on Naruto's frontside. Kakashi patted Naruto on the back lightly. "Nevertheless, it looks like you win. There's more red than blue."

The market stalls were lined with a lot of red defacing and graffiti done on Naruto's part.

"Yeahh!" Naruto exclaimed happily, pumping both fists into the air. "Yay I win!"

"Kakashi, I underestimated your skills. How… did you get me without me noticing?" Shisui asked Kakashi, pointing to the blue paint on his shoulder. He had inspected himself the moment there was an uproar.

"That must have been a fluke. I never attempted to mark you with paint." Kakashi couldn't have been able to based on their seating arrangements at the ramen shop.

"I thought maybe I contacted it from Sasuke, but this is blue," Shisui said thoughtfully.

Suddenly, Kakashi laughed. "Funny story. Earlier today, someone broke one of the pillars holding the canopy up at the lantern booth. I don't know if it was on purpose, or purely accidental, but the culprit decide to escape when everyone was drenched in paint. I suspect that the person might have touched some of the blue dye on the canopy."

Shisui's jaw dropped slightly. He was slightly impressed. "You caught me."

Naruto and Sasuke's bickering at started up again in the background, but Kakashi ignored it. He gave Shisui a grin. "You did me a solid favour though! Thank you for that."

Outside, the crowd of people had started to laugh, apparently getting over the fluorescence. They started applauding and cheering when the lanterns were released, filling the starry night sky with blue and red light.

On their way home, Kakashi let Naruto ride on his shoulders. The other villagers were also leaving with tired eyes. They never caught the perpetrators.

"Neko-Kaka, what do I win?"

"Anything you want."

"Can my prize be… you beating the shit out of Sasuke?"

"Afraid not, kiddo."

He dropped Naruto down to the ground when they entered Naruto's place. There was no sign of the cockroach. That could be interpreted as a good or a bad thing. Kakashi picked up a few of the dishes and placed them in the sink, feeling compelled to clean up a little bit.

"Can I have your ANBU mask, then?" It was a serious request.

"Are you thinking of joining ANBU one day, Naruto?"

"No, I just don't want you to wear it anymore. Every time you put it on, you disappear on a mission for a really long time. You should be staying HERE to teach me how to be a ninja."

"That's not really my job." Then again, doing the dishes for Naruto wasn't part of Kakashi's job either.


	12. Living in Darkness

**Living in Darkness**

"There were rumours from the Land of Hot Water that the Twelve Guardians are planning something, possibly against Konoha. The village border patrol has been lacking manpower lately, and I am worried we won't be able to prevent them from entering, in case of emergency."

Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane sat at a high table, wearing extravagant garments and drinking tea at the their seats. He purposely seeked just the two of them out in order to change their minds. He suspected that Danzo wouldn't have given him the time of day and that these two elders of the Konoha Council would be easier to convince.

"We've heard those rumours too, although no reports have supported them. But if you think that the Guardians are something to worry about, perhaps we should start taking countermeasures," Koharu speculated.

"I have a suggestion. There's been unnecessary scrutiny over the Uchiha district. Perhaps we can decrease the security keeping watch on that area.

"They've been quiet lately," Homura agreed thoughtfully. "Perhaps it would be a good idea to go easy on them and put our focus elsewhere. But there's the possibility of the clan using this to their advantage…"

"Homura," Koharu said sharply. They weren't supposed to discuss the interrelations in front of Kakashi.

"If I may make a suggestion, maybe you can send a bunch of Uchiha clan members to patrol with other shinobi. They can't take advantage of anything, then."

"That is a well thought out plan. We trust your judgements, so perhaps we will honour that request," Koharu informed him. "We will need to speak with Danzo first and then consult with Hiruzen-sama. We will organize a meeting in a few days, and would like you to attend."

"Thank you, Homura-sama, Koharu-sama."

Kakashi walked out of the room in high spirits. That went over a lot more smoothly than he expected. He hoped they couldn't see he was just trying to get them off the clan's back. Additionally, he hoped that he and the others had enough time to change the clan's mind.

"Kakashi-senpai, what have I told you about working during your time off?"

"You're awfully bossy lately, Tenzou," Kakashi commented as the two ANBU shinobi greeted each other at a hallway corner. "You call me senpai, yet you act as the senpai."

"Sorry, Kakashi-senpai," Tenzou said quickly, a look of panic crossing his features. "But I stand by what I said. I will not allow you to work when you're on vacation. It's a personal mission that Hokage-sama assigned me."

"I'm not really on vacation," Kakashi muttered. "Thankfully, I've found some work that I can do during for the next few weeks."

"That's good to hear. Keep yourself busy, exercise your mind, forge a spiritual connection with a new religion, etc. Now get out." Tenzou pointed to exit, half-joking, half-serious.

"You're having fun with this, aren't you?"

"Believe me, senpai, I'm deathly afraid of the day you come back as captain and can order me around. But I'm being brave."

Kakashi was about to leave, but stopped short. "Tenzou, would you like to come spar with Itachi and me?"

"Itachi-kun?" Tenzou thought back to the thirteen year old Uchiha kid. He remembered when he was part of their team, but now Itachi was the captain of his own ANBU group. "I've always found it difficult to talk to him. He's not a people-person."

"Neither are you, Tenzou," Kakashi reminded him. "Some would say you're a little bit awkward."

The younger wood-ninja huffed, acting offended. "You're one to talk. Senpai, you are Hatake Kakashi, the antisocial emo cool guy that people are scared of." When Kakashi raised his eyebrow menacingly, Tenzou started to apologize profusely. He put his hands together and started bowing. "That was insensitive. I didn't mean scared OF you, I meant they're scared to talk TO you. Which can mean the same thing… Gomenasai!"

"Relax, know what you meant, Tenzou," Kakashi said lightly. "So would you like to come?"

"I'll pass. Now, senpai, please leave this building."

Kakashi was already thinking of ways to make Tenzou suffer as he exited.

**235023985092835092**

"I've been reassigned from spying on the clan," Itachi informed Shisui as they practiced training.

"Oh? Do they suspect you of getting cold feet?"

"No, most of my colleagues have been reassigned to border patrol. That's strange."

"This will be something worthwhile to mention at the next clan meeting," Shisui said thoughtfully. "Although we have to be careful and make sure the clan uses this to their advantage against the village."

"It could go either way," Itachi said honestly. He clenched his sword tightly. Itachi was worried about what would happen if this backfired on them. "It makes me wonder: Was Kakashi behind this?"

The light-haired shinobi in question appeared in the area, ready to fight. This was the park that Kakashi fought Shisui from before. "Fortunately, thanks to yours truly, I've already got that covered. They're pulling the security from the district, but adding more Uchiha shinobi to border patrol."

"That gives us some time."

"More importantly, it gives the clan and the village a common goal," Kakashi said wisely.

"We'll wait to see what the outcome is, and inform you of what happens at the next meeting," Shisui told Kakashi. "Things are looking good though. Itachi can help tug on the Council's strings, and I can speak to the clan at our next meeting."

The three took a break and sat next to a small pond. There were frogs croaking and a slight breeze in the air. None of them said much as the rested. They simply sat down, wiped off their sweat, and stared into the waters.

"That kid of yours…" Itachi suddenly spoke.

"My kid? You mean Naruto?"

"Yeah, Sasuke's friend. He's the jinchuriki, right? Is that why you're attached to him?" Itachi asked curiously.

Could he trust handing the information to Itachi and Shisui? People were not supposed to know that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son. "His father was someone I admired and respected," Kakashi finally said. "So I gave him a chance, and he grew on me."

"So I heard you lost him in the middle of the night one time."

"…Shisui, you almost had me there for a second. I was legit going to ask you where you discovered that."

When Itachi and Shisui both went home together, Kakashi found himself automatically walking to Naruto's apartment. It had become a habit of his to stop by at least once a day, even if only for a few minutes. He refused to clean anymore unless it was absolutely necessary, but Naruto didn't seem to mind.

"Excuse me, can you help me?"

An old, short, haggy woman was leaning on a walker, panting. She wore a brown skirt and a dirty green poncho. She looked like she was going to collapse at any moment. When Kakashi spotted her, he rushed over and placed a hand on her back to steady her.

"Can you walk? I can get you to your home or the hospital."

"You look like the devil! With hair like that, you could blind somebody!" she shrieked. This seemed to put some strain on her throat.

She coughed a couple of times and took a couple of minutes to calm down. Every single one of her coughs was noisy and sickly. Kakashi waited patiently for her to catch her breath.

"Give me some water."

Kakashi wanted to argue with the woman, but he stopped himself. He retrieved a bottle of water from his satchel. "Here, please drink up."

A few minutes later, the woman straightened up. Without a word to Kakashi, or even a look of acknowledgement, she took off on the sidewalk in her walker, by herself.

He scratched his head, confused. That was the oddest encounter he ever made with elderly people. Finally, he shrugged it off and continued onwards.

**250238509183551**

"Are you feeling alright, Itachi?"

"Hmm? I'm fine, Shisui."

The two Uchiha walked home together side by side. From a distance, one could have assumed that Shisui was the older brother, who was walking a young Itachi home. They were dressed alike, and had similar hair and eyes. Since they were young, Shisui always looked after Itachi like an older brother. Nowadays, Itachi was hoping to do the same for Sasuke.

"You don't have to pretend, Itachi. I know you pretty well."

"Okay, I'll admit it. You've always been like an older brother to me. I feel threatened now that you're getting close to Kakashi." There was jealousy laced all over Itachi's tone.

"That's what the problem is! Come on now, Itachi, I could never replace you with anyone else." Shisui wrapped an arm around the slightly shorter Uchiha. "We have a bond, and we studied together. Remember our common interest was learning about the history?"

"I'm aware you're a pretty friendly person. Everyone you meet seems to like you, whether they can help it or not," Itachi commented. "But why him? What made it so that you and him connected so well?"

"Well… I think it's because I understand Kakashi. He and I both know what it's like to live in darkness, and we understand each other. There are experiences that we've gone through that could have torn us apart. We've felt the same thing." Shisui had was frightfully honest.

"But Kakashi doesn't know anything that you've experienced. You never told him your past."

"I don't need to. He isn't aware that he understands. But this is why we're able to be friends. We're both shinobi pulled into darkness that is trying to escape towards light. He's lived a tough life; his father killed himself, he never knew his mother, his sensei died while he was helpless to fight, his friend died in battle and gave him the Sharingan, and he killed his other comrade in battle. That's something no ordinary person can handle. Yet Kakashi is still here, after battling it by himself.

"Itachi, you on the other hand, have seen war, battle, and pain. But I don't ever want you to have to experience what Kakashi and I have. Don't ever do anything that will fill you with regret. You have me, and now you also have Kakashi, that you can trust in."

"I understand." Itachi nodded, accepting Shisui's answer.

"Good. Now I'm going to stop being depressing and start thinking of what to prepare for my little cousins tonight." Shisui's tone was back to being cheery.


	13. Common Goals

**Common Goals**

"There must be another reason for the sudden change."

Fugaku sat with a small group of Uchiha clan members. There were four men his age, all fathers, who were discussing recent news from the village that evening. New additions to the meetings were Sora and Yashiro, who were sitting in the corner keenly paying attention.

"They haven't been monitoring us as frequently in the past two weeks. Shisui has already informed us that the Council lifted the security to only one or two shinobi on shift for a few hours in the evenings."

"Itachi did inform me a few weeks ago that the ANBU operatives had been reassigning missions. Plus several members of our clan have had more work opportunities as of late," Fugaku stated, furrowing his eyebrows and deepening his frown.

"Sir," another member said hesitantly. "Some of us have been growing suspicious of Itachi-san's true loyalties. So we sent out Shisui to spy on him."

"That was narrow-minded on your part. The two of them are close friends; Shisui cannot be trusted."

"That may be so. We started to doubt Shisui's intentions too. That's why I sent Yashiro here to spy on Shisui and gather more intel about the higher-ups."

"Yashiro!"

"Yes, sir!" The younger lad approached the table, beads of sweat dripping down his neck. "I have my report ready here, sir!"

"What have you gathered about Shisui?" Fugaku demanded. His piercing eyes made the younger boy shake, but he remembered that he plead allegiance to Fugaku.

"Shisui-san and Itachi-san frequently meet as expected. On weekends, they spar together and go out to eat; Mondays Shisui will come over to your resi-"

"Skip to anything interesting or out of the ordinary."

"Right! A few weeks ago, I noticed that they changed their usual training ground and had a difficult time finding them. A few days ago, I managed to spy really close and discovered that both Shisui and Itachi have been meeting up with a stranger. His name is Hatake Kakashi."

"Hatake Kakashi," Fugaku repeated the name, which threw Yashiro off guard. "Continue."

"I could never get close enough to hear what they were saying, but I informed Sora-senpai of this. He was able to gather more intel about Hatake Kakashi."

"As he said, after those news, I spied on Kakashi myself," Sora continued after Yashiro sat down. "Found his file for the ANBU Black Ops and stuck around headquarters after one of my missions. He recently attended a meeting with the Konoha Council in private, and another meeting where Itachi and Shisui were present. Everything seems to point towards Hatake Kakashi being responsible for recent events."

"It seems like that man is planning something, and I don't like it," Fugaku stated gruffly and banged the table with his fist.

"There must be an ulterior motive," everyone else agreed.

"He's not an Uchiha, despite holding one of the Sharingan," someone else stated. "Who does he think he is?"

Fugaku recalled the conversation he had with Kakashi back at the festival. He remembered explicitly telling Kakashi to act as if he were an Uchiha. There must be more to the story than what meets the eye.

"For now, we will leave the man alone," Fugaku stated with a tone of finality. "We'll continue to observe his behaviour and decide what to do hence after. Perhaps we can use this to our advantage in the future."

**23522508250**

_Before the Lantern Festival _

"Iruka-sensei won't let me graduate from the Academy yet! Even though I really want to."

"You just entered the Academy, Naruto," Kakashi said with a roll of his eye.

"So? I'm a great ninja and I should be able to graduate!" Naruto said with ultimate glee in his voice.

"You haven't learned half the jutsus yet."

"I told you, Kakashi, I've already started to work on a jutsu of my own."

Kakashi sighed, poking at Naruto's frustrated torso. The kid was swinging from an exercise bar at lunchtime again. "Work hard, train often, and study. That's how you become an excellent shinobi and a potential Hokage."

The blonde boy frowned. "I don't get it. The school doesn't want me there, I don't want to be there, we have the same goal. Therefore, they should just graduate me."

Those words struck an idea in Kakashi. "You both have the same goal… so you should just both work together. Brilliant," he muttered under his breath.

"I know, right? Then I can become a genin and before I know it I'll be Hokage!"

"The problem is, there isn't a common goal to go after. There has to be a way to get them to work together," Kakashi continued to mutter out loud to himself.

"I'm not working with Sasuke," Naruto rambled on from the exercise bar. The pair were so entranced by their own thoughts that they were oblivious to the other. Naruto was unaware that he had given Kakashi the ultimate idea for getting the Uchiha clan on good terms with the Council.

"I'll give them incentive, then."

"What are you giving me, Neko-Kaka?"

**1348093210985**

_Present Time_

"You've been meeting with Asuma-san in secret ever since he left?"

"Ssh!"

Kurenai slapped a hand over Gai's mouth, sending him dirty looks in reply. The pair were heading towards the gates of Konoha. He received a slap on the head for speaking too loudly.

"Sorry, Kurenai-chan." Gai calmed down considerably and rubbed his head.

"Think before you speak, baka!"

"Why are you making me tagging along with one of these visits, then?" Gai asked curiously.

"You're aware that they've tightened the security around the village, right? That's in response to what the Twelve Guardians have been plotting."

"Oh right, and Asuma is one of those Twelve Guardians. So you want me to protect you from Asuma. You can count on Mighto Gai for that!"

Kurenai sent him another death glare. "Actually, I trust Asuma with all of my heart. What I need your help with is sneaking out of Konoha without the patrollers noticing. Since there's extra security, things will be a little more difficult."

It was something that Kurenai only accomplished twice. The last time she had visited Asuma, they got into a fight about him returning. She couldn't understand why he left to join the Guardians when he could have just stayed with them in the village. That was several months ago. Both of those times, they met and talked at the sixth tree next to the Fountain of Senju.

The only reason Kurenai was leaving to see Asuma was because she received a blank letter in the mail on the sixth day of that month. That indicated that Asuma would be waiting for her at 6PM at the tree. She wanted to hear what he had to say.

"The guards at the gates are down. Kurenai-chan, it seems like you don't need my help at all," Gai remarked wondrously. "Your genjutsu works like a charm."

"That won't hide me from the other shinobi surrounding the village. Pull up your face mask, Gai."

"I feel like Kakashi." They both chuckled.

After leaving the village, something didn't feel like. They hadn't bumped into anyone yet, like Kurenai was expecting.

"Are you uncomfortable too?" Gai asked, holding a white mask over his nose. "I can feel them staring at us."

"Why aren't they confronting us?" Kurenai whispered. She didn't want to lead them directly to Asuma.

"Leave it to me."

They changed their route and sprinted in another direction. Gai gave Kurenai the thumbs up and eventually split. Gai pretended to head back to Konoha.

Running as fast as she could, Kurenai started heading towards the Fountain. It wasn't located too far from Konoha, so she could take her time meeting Asuma there. After running for some time, she could detect the presence of a single person following her.

She took out some smoke bombs and set them off behind her, hoping to deter the person from following. However, the person continued to follow from a distance, never being seen.

"Got you!"

At Gai's cue, Kurenai turned back and came face to face with one of the Leaf village ninjas. Gai had caused a distraction by sneaking up on the person and cornering him. When they had split up, Gai become the pursuer of the pursuer.

She immediately performed the genjutsu on him.

"Sorry, but your type of genjutsu won't work on me," the person said sympathetically.

"Uchiha Shisui?" she stated in shock.

"I'll get him, Kurenai-chan." Gai leapt up into the air and gave a good roundhouse kick at Shisui's head.

He was fast and easily dodged Gai's attack. Instead of fighting back, Shisui stuck to taijutsu and continuously blocked or defected all of Gai's blows.

"It's no use. I can't hit him," Gai panted, out of breath. He jumped to Kurenai's side and they faced off with Shisui.

"You should have brought us both back in for leaving the village without any orders," Kurenai told Shisui, narrowing her eyes. "But you're letting us pass. Why?"

"The Hokage informed us that if Yuhi Kurenai attempted to leave Konoha to visit Sarotobi Asuma, then we should permit it," Shisui told them.

Her eyes widened. Asuma's father? "So he knew all along?"

"Why were you tagging along with us?"

"I wanted to aid and give you some protection, just in case. But it looks like you've brought along some good help of your own." Shisui smiled at Gai, who seemed to melt at the Uchiha's compliment.

"I appreciate that very much," Kurenai said happily. "But I am going to meet this person, who's not necessarily Asuma, alone. If I have permission to pass through here, then I think I'll take my leave."

"That's fair. You may go on as you please." Shisui stepped aside graciously.

The pair continued on their journey feeling more relaxed.

"For some reason, I highly doubt that Uchiha Shisui could have been that clumsy in tailing someone. He must have purposely tried to be spotted in order to engage us in battle and look at our physical abilities," Kurenai analyzed as they walked. "He was never going to follow me all the way to Asuma's location." She sighed when she remembered that Hiruzen knew of her escapades. "Hey, Gai… What are you doing?"

Gai was living in heaven. "He's such the…. OPPOSITE of Kakashi. Uchiha Shisui is the definition of a perfect warrior, the ultimate ninja."

"Argh, if I hadn't accidentally stumbled across your collection when we were younger that one time, I would have assumed you were in love with that man."

"I told you to never talk about that!" Gai cried indignantly.

When Kurenai reached the Fountain, she told Gai to wait there while she talked to Asuma. But to their surprise, he approached them first.

"So glad to see you two. It's been a while," Asuma remarked with a cigarette lit up in his mouth.

"I missed having you around, Asuma," Gai told him honestly.

"I wish we had more time to chitchat," Asuma glanced at Kurenai longingly, "but there's another reason I came here. It's about the Twelve Guardians."

"So this isn't a personal visit?" Kurenai said in a low voice.

"This is urgent," Asuma said hurriedly. He wasn't sure how much time he had. "Listen. Some of the Guardians are planning a revolt against the Hokage. They want the Fire Daimyo to be in power, so they're planning to attack the village really soon."

"That's crazy," Kurenai whispered.

"How many people?" Gai asked. "And when are they planning it?"

Asuma shook his head. "It's uncertain when the date is set for. The twelve of us have been arguing about this for a while, and some of them are still on the line about it. I suspect maybe half of the group actually intends to take part of it."

"If this happens, what will you do?" Kurenai asked softly.

"I'll fight against them. That's my father and my village," Asuma said surely all at once. "Please inform my father of these news. I've already observed that the village has taken extra measures, but be careful."

"We will."


	14. Trust

**Chapter 14 Trust**

"Another time, Sasuke."

Itachi's words made the young boy frown disappointedly. "You never have time to train with me anymore," he complained at the dinner table. The family of four was enjoying a quiet meal of hot soup and rice.

"You'll have to find another way to train by yourself," Fugaku said not empathetically. "Your brother is a busy person. You should be more understanding."

If possible, Sasuke's face fell even more.

"I'll try to make some time before your upcoming test," Itachi promised. "We'll practice together."

"By the way, Itachi. I'd like a word with you after dinner."

"Yes father."

The two remained behind at the dinner table after Sasuke and his mother left to go prepare Sasuke for bed. They did not look at each other or address each other affectionately.

"What is going on with you?"

"I don't know what you mean, father."

"Your little game with the Kakashi man. Don't think I don't know what you've been up to, instead of spending time with Sasuke. How can you trust someone like that?" Fugaku wrinkled his nose. "I've heard about what he's done in the past."

"So have I," Itachi replied, not meeting his father's eyes.

"Whatever this man has told you, promised you, or tried to pry from you… it's not worth it. Is your loyalty to the Clan less important? That man is connected to the Village Council. He could be a spy working for them. You, afterall, are our spy on the Council."

Fugaku had thought of many ways to pester Itachi. It was important to him to untie Itachi from Kakashi no matter what means he took.

"You could be right," Itachi said quietly. "That's possible that he has another plan up his sleeve, I'm aware of that."

"Then I urge you to do and see what's right, Itachi."

Itachi felt emotionally conflicted. He was a hard worker whose beliefs never swayed in the face of all the pressure. Even though he was asked by the Clan and the Council to work as a double agent, Itachi always had one goal in mind.

But for some reason, the moment Kakashi came into Shisui's life, thereby Itachi's, everything started to change. It wasn't a good or bad change; the outcome had not been fully decided yet. Nevertheless, this instability caused by Kakashi made him feel distrustful. His father was only voicing Itachi's opinions on the matter. There was no reason given by Kakashi to help the clan out.

His own personal feelings about Kakashi also clouded his judgement. His talk with Shisui hadn't changed the fact that Itachi felt threatened by him.

"Here's what you'll do, Itachi."

Fugaku told him to keep in contact with Kakashi and try to discover more about the Council that way. He also warned Itachi to protect the clan in case Kakashi tried something on them. Fugaku wanted reports about him every chance he discovered something interesting.

"And don't let him or Shisui know about our talk. We'll make the fullest use of this opportunity. I am glad you changed your mind, Itachi."

"I'll get right to it," Itachi told him. "Kakashi is on vacation for the next two weeks, so perhaps I'll take Sasuke out to visit him."

He had slipped up, but Itachi didn't realize it at the time. Fugaku hummed throughtfully afterwards, forming a plan in his mind.

**124798237508 **

"This is where you've been?"

Surprised, Kakashi snapped back to reality. He had been lost in his thoughts for the past hour, thinking of the people at the graves he was visiting. "Did I miss our meeting?"

"What do you think? When you didn't show up, we took it upon our selves to search the entire village for you," Shisui said offhandedly. "Itachi and I must have searched all of Konoha. This was one of the last places we decided to go to."

Kakashi ashamedly scratched his head. "I'm only an hour late, max." He hurriedly left the cemetery with the two, not wanting to show them his brooding.

"You've been late before, but never two hours late," Shisui observed. "Today, however, you can't even say you were late. You missed it completely."

"Sorry," Kakashi muttered.

Shisui noticed that Kakashi had reverted back to his cold-shouldered shell. "Hey, I don't mean to be hard on you about that. I do find it interesting that we now know the reason you're always late."

"Shisui, did you really believe the story he made up about being trapped in a manhole?" Itachi asked incredulously. Shisui shrugged his shoulders innocently.

Kakashi's lips twitched. "There was nobody around to hear me scream for a solid sixteen minutes, I swear."

"He's certainly able to make up stories on the spot pretty well," Itachi remarked.

Tension rose in the air when Itachi's slightly bitter tone was detected underneath his smiling eyes. Kakashi didn't know how to respond to that.

"Itachi, don't try to stir up trouble," Shisui warned, concerned for the two of them. Itachi and Kakashi had started to hold each other's glare.

"I'm just saying that it's easy to speak when you're behind a mask."

Kakashi's hand automatically lifted up to touch the mask he wore on his face. He narrowed his eyes, thinking that this was never a problem before. He never had anybody distrust him just because he chose not to reveal his face.

"Itachi."

Itachi looked over at Shisui and took out a deep breath. "Gomenasai, Kakashi," he said with a lighter tone, his shoulders sagging slightly. "That was out of line for me."

He excused himself quickly, leaving Kakashi and Shisui alone by the cemetery fence. They stared at Itachi's retreating back, quite confused.

"He doesn't trust me," Kakashi stated softly, putting his head in his arms.

Beside him, his companion leaned on the fence. Shisui didn't think that the reason for Itachi's behaviour was jealousy, like he had previously discussed with him. "He doesn't understand you or your intentions," Shisui explained, although he was still conflicted. "Give him some time, and he'll come around."

"That's alright. It's not an unnatural occurrence."

"Well I trust you," Shisui said assuredly. "I know why you're helping us and the clan. You need us."

"I don't know what you mean by that."

"After what happened in your past, you feel like you need to help us. Because this gives you a goal, a reason for living, and because you've got us now. So stop blaming yourself, forgive, and move on."

"What are you saying, Shisui?"

"You've been killing yourself, Kakashi. I've noticed it, your friends have noticed it," Shisui said in a tone that was going up in pitch. "This isn't healthy, being here all the time." He gestured towards the cemetery.

Sharply exhaling, Kakashi stepped away from Shisui, feeling winded. "You're also about to cross a line," he said in a slightly aggravated tone.

"I'm sorry if I am," Shisui said sincerely. "Maybe you needed to hear it."

"I didn't want to hear it."

Not sure how to express how upset he was feeling, Kakashi simply let out a growl under his breath and stormed off angrily. He felt guilty immediately afterwards. The crestfallen and apologetic look on Shisui's face made him feel bad for abandoning Shisui at the cemetery. It wasn't his fault that Kakashi was angry about Itachi's earlier words, which only fuelled his emotions.

Shisui watched him go too, feeling defeated. Itachi became irrational and Kakashi turned defensive. He felt partially responsible for his friends. "Things will work out," he told himself confidently. "They'll sort out their issues one way or another."

**127489135**

Running towards the direction of his home, Itachi's mind was spinning. He had grown a little bit angry at Shisui for trusting so easily, especially trusting Kakashi in a short amount of time. If Shisui could see things from where he stood, then maybe he'd feel the same way as Itachi.

At the same time, Itachi was disappointed with his father. He carried a lot of pressure on his shoulders acting as a double spy for the clan and the village, plus there was the added pressure of working in ANBU and secretively keeping the peace. Now he had to spy on one of his friends.

"Except he's not my friend. He's a stranger," Itachi told himself. But he was a stranger that never showed any hostile intent towards him.

He took some time off to himself, wanting to clear his thoughts. Itachi found himself wandering to the clan's meeting house, which was empty at that time. Climbing in through the doors, Itachi deeply breathed in the smell of incense and candle. It was relaxing.

He sat cross-legged in front of one of the religious statues and closed his eyes. There were a lot of things he needed to sort out.

A few days ago, Danzo approached him in private. He had discussed the Uchiha's plans with him, warning him that there were talks of a coup d'etat. It was something Shisui had specifically told him not to do ever since Kakashi came in to the picture. Kakashi might not be plotting against the Uchiha clan, but he was indirectly getting in the way of the Council. Overall, this could be harmful to the village.

"Overall, the clan could be harmful to the village," Itachi muttered.

He noticed one of the sliding doors to the room was slightly ajar, but instinctively stayed calm. Somebody had snuck in. Did they want something from him?

But as he strained his senses to listen for sounds of movement or breathing, Itachi realized that he was alone. That meant that somebody had snuck out without wanting Itachi to know. Usually the clan came and left as they please. There was no reason to sneak around. Unless they didn't belong.

Getting up, Itachi quickly exited the building and scanned the area. There was someone moving along the shadows, so smoothly that a normal shinobi wouldn't have detected them. Itachi moved along with the figure, acting as though he were strolling down the road.

When the figure headed towards the forest leading out of the village, Itachi grew suspicious. He chased after the figure with a kunai in his hand.

A few minutes later, the figure stopped in his tracks. "The rumours must be true. You're truly a skilled member of the Uchiha clan."

Anger rose in Itachi's throat. "You have no business being here. Identify yourself."

This person laughed oddly. He stepped out of the shadows so that Itachi could see him. "What is a name? It's nothing but a meaningless title to me. There's no use to having one for me."

Itachi drew in a sharp intake. The man wore a strange orange mask over his face, containing one right eye hole. He had spiky black hair and wore a dark shinobi suit. This wasn't some random passerby. Itachi suspected this person must contain a lot of power, skills, and/or chakra in order to idly stroll into Konoha. This person was definitely not a villager.

"Who are you?" Itachi demanded again.

"An acquaintance," the masked man said darkly. "That happened to be checking up on his old hometown."

"Are you an Uchiha?"

"I told you, names don't matter to me anymore."

"If this is your hometown and you are not from here, then you must have checked in with the guards and registered your name."

"Why would I want to alert the villagers that I'm about to destroy everything they love?"

Itachi threw a couple of kunai blades at the man. The masked man did not flinch nor dodge the attack. His jaw nearly dropped when the weapons seem to right through the man without causing any effect.

The orange-masked man cackled, clearly not threatened by Itachi. "You are too eager to protect the village. It's evident that Itachi, the pacifist, would do anything if it meant keeping Konoha safe. So I have a preposition for you."

Itachi's face remained grim the entire time. "I'm listening."

"The Uchiha clan will fail, as it has failed me. My goal was to wreck Konoha, but I would rather destroy the Uchiha clan. If you and I stood together, we could erase them entirely. This would solve all your problems. You know that the clan cannot be saved," the masked man told him. "The clan will fall. At least let it be by one of the hands of their own."

Bizarrely, Itachi was listening to the man's every word. He had been feeling backed into a corner lately. This man was right. The clan had sinned many times over and over again. They were selfish and were going to fall one day. He couldn't listen to Kakashi and put the other villagers in Konoha in danger by letting the Uchiha do what they wanted.

"What were you hoping to gain?"

"Your entry into my organization."

"What does this organize wish to achieve?"

"Ah." The masked man held up one finger. "Just one thing. World peace."

Itachi backed down from the man. He thought back to the offer and looked down at his feet.

"I see you're still uncertain. Which is all good. I will come back for your reply in one week."

The masked man then unmaterialized into the air before Itachi, leaving a speechless, heartbroken thirteen year old shinobi behind.


	15. The Path

**Chapter 15 The Path**

**A/N Just a warning, the story is now a little more graphic than it used to be.**

_She clutched her throat frightfully, choking harshly. A moment later, she fell to her knees, but was finally able to breathe properly. _

_"What is this?" she said, tears falling down her cheeks. "What are you going to do to him?" _

_Her assailants picked up the body on ground next to Mayura. Petrified, she couldn't do anything to stop them. _

_"We've placed a sealing jutsu on your tongue. You won't be able to speak of this event to anybody. Now you're free to leave," they told her._

_Mayura's eyes widened, realizing that she wasn't in danger. A feeling of relief washed over her briefly, but she became upset when they took the body with them. _

_She looked at them go with despair. The man's limp body was dripping with blood, mostly coming from the wound on his head. She couldn't report him to the authorities. She couldn't fight them. Mayura didn't know what to do. _

_There was no way to help him. _

**2135820355235**

Outraged, Kurenai stepped back from Asuma and held up her fists. "I can't believe what you're saying."

"It's the truth," he said tiredly. "If you won't cooperate, then I'll make you."

Anger rose inside of Kurenai, causing her to shake uncontrollably. She had met up with Asuma again, taking no time at all to leave the village. He had sent a red piece of paper by a bird carrier. Red indicated emergency, so she fled as soon as she could. They met at their usual spot, but Asuma convinced her that it was safer to talk at a hidden cave not too far away.

"You're not the same Asuma I know," Kurenai hissed, throwing a blow in his direction. "What happened to my friend?"

"I really don't want to hurt you, Kurenai," he said, blocking her movements. "That's exactly why I'm doing this."

Asuma had come out to inform her that six of the Twelve Guardians were planning on attacking Konoha within the next several hours. They had banned together, convinced that the Daimyo should be the only one to rule the Land of Fire. Eventually, they came up with a plan to get rid of Hokage and the Village Council.

Unfortunately, they didn't seem to care about who they hurt in the process. They were somehow able to obtain a forbidden scroll, giving them the ability to tame and control wolves. If they attacked Konoha, then the village was not going to leave unscathed. The other five guardians were slowing them down as they spoke.

Nonetheless, this wasn't what upset Kurenai. "You can't expect me to stay here and leave the village in danger like that," she cried out.

"They're powerful, and they probably have a hundred wolves in their army," Asuma told her. "I want you to stay here. I'm going to help fight. I've already warned my father about the attack, so they'll be prepared. There's nothing to worry about."

"Then I will too. My name is Yuhi Kurenai, a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. I'm not going to sit around idly waiting for others like you to come rescue me."

Kurenai flipped and rolled over on the ground. She had to find a way around Asuma and get out of the cave. He guarded off the exit, holding up his chakra blades.

"You make me sick, Asuma." There was no kindness in her tone. "The Asuma I knew showed me respect. I fought alongside him as an equal, as a friend."

He lowered his weapons briefly, sighing. "This time around, it's different, Kurenai. I want to protect you." He was determined to keep her from leaving.

"Stop patronizing me, Asuma."

She never understood why Asuma left the village, she was only aware that he had some dispute with his father. Hiruzen always respected his wishes and did not do anything when he became one of the Twelve Guardians.

Since then, she heard news of Asuma every now and then. He was famous for battling with rogue ninjas, saving the Daimyo's life on countless occasions, and infiltrating multiple gangs. One time, he sent in the mail a copy of a black market bounty of himself.

The reason why Asuma never visited the village was because of his argument with the Hokage. And now, with recent news of the Twelve Guardians, the village was more suspicious of strangers than ever before.

A moment later, they attacked each other. It was a lengthy and difficult battle. Since they used to be comrades, they knew each other's moves well. One thing Kurenai did not anticipate, however, were the new styles Asuma learned ever since he joined the Guardians. His movements had upgraded.

It tired her out, but Kurenai was determined to get back to Konoha. It wasn't like her to sit around and do nothing.

"Stop fighting, Kure," he told her.

"Let me out of here and I will."

"You're so stubborn and thickheaded."

"Ah!" she screamed, clutching her thigh painfully.

Asuma's chakra blade made contact when she failed to dodge mid-jump. She stopped attacking, and knelt down on the floor.

Sucking in a deep breath, Asuma lowered his guard, feeling pained that he hurt her. It was a non-life threatening injury, but it made him feel guilty.

"Are you alright, Kure?" he called out.

She didn't say anything. Instead, Kurenai had her head lowered and stayed down on the floor. It looked like she was shaking.

Asuma threw down his weapons and dashed towards her with wide eyes. He hadn't expected to injure her terribly, just get her down for a moment so that he could seal off the cave. As he got closer, Asuma tried to look at the wound on her leg.

"Kure?"

A fist came out of nowhere and connected with his jaw. Seconds later, Asuma was knocked off of his feet and landed with his back on the ground.

Kurenai was standing up on her feet, uninjured. She stepped towards the side where the cave exit lay. There was a triumphant gleam on her face. "You've made a big name for yourself out there. Your moves are more advanced than mine, which is something that's changed since you've been gone."

"I must have grown a little more soft too," he grunted, rolling over slowly. He cared a lot more for her than he used to, which led to his downfall. Asuma wiped his brow and sat up. "Outsmarted me with a genjutsu."

She turned around and breathed a heavy sigh.

"Just because you've chosen your path for yourself does not mean you have ANY right to determine mine," were Kurenai's last words.

**23523590823509**

_He gasped for air, gagging on his own blood. Darkness shrouded his vision, and the cold air left his skin feeling numb. The pain he felt from his external wounds had subsided. Unfortunately, his internal wounds were magnifying in pain. __On his knees, he had no way of seeing or expecting an oncoming strike. It would occur randomly at his chest, stomach, back, or his head. His wrists and ankles were chained tightly, preventing him from escaping. _

_"This is the path you chose for yourself," the gruff voice of his captor told him._

_Was this the path he chose? He couldn't remember. He lost track of time a while back, realizing that keeping count of the hours only made the suffering worse. It could have been days or simply a few hours. Surrendering to his fate, he no longer spoke or made any noise of pain. There was nobody around to help him, nobody to notice him. And this was all his fault, because he chose to push them all alway._

_He closed his eyes when his captors left him alone and slumped over. His body was bruised, his clothes were stained with blood, and he was losing energy and chakra. _

_His shinobi headband lay by his feet, shattered. _


	16. The Trail

**Chapter 16 The Trail**

"There you go, all finished." Shisui cut the last piece of bandage and tucked it into the wrap on Sasuke's tiny arm. He held it up and examined it.

"Shisui, are you going to tell Nii-san?" he asked timidly.

"I won't tell Itachi, as long as you be more careful when practicing," Shisui told him merrily.

"I don't want Nii-san to know. I'm trying to get good at this," Sasuke said in a small voice, kicking his feet. "Someday, I want to be better than Itachi is."

"You probably will be a better shinobi than he is! I bet you anything, Sasuke-kun, that you're already halfway there."

This lifted the younger boy's spirits greatly. "Really? But big brother is really, really good. My father always says so." There was no mistaking the green envy on Sasuke's expression. Which, after all, was only natural for someone young.

"Itachi's not all he's great. Bet you didn't know that I can easily defeat him in a battle."

"No way! Nii-san is the greatest fighter I know!" Sasuke instantly defended his brother, forgetting his bitter tone from before. He played right into Shisui's hand.

It had been almost a week since Kakashi blew up and Itachi acted out. Ever since then, he hadn't seen Kakashi around. And Itachi spent most of his time brooding indoors since that day. Shisui asked him to train, but he politely declined.

In hindsight, Shisui felt bad. He shouldn't have said those words to Kakashi; he understood why the man was angry with him. No wonder he was most likely avoiding both him and Itachi.

"I hope I didn't push either of them too far," he spoke to himself.

Nevertheless, Shisui had started to get worried. He hoped that Kakashi would cool off and then maybe they could have a discussion. Now, he figured he was going to forcefully make an apology to Kakashi.

He stopped by Kakashi's apartment, but nobody was present. Shisui asked a couple of villagers around the area if they had seen him. It would be hard to miss that wild white-silver hair. He came up empty handed again. He had even stopped by the cemetery without catching sight of the shinobi.

"Urgent news, Shisui-san." A Leaf Village jounin dashed up to Shisui on the streets. "It's an emergency meeting at Headquarters. They've requested all high ranking ninja not on duty to report to straight away."

This came out of nowhere. He followed the jounin towards the Headquarters and felt a bit of unease rise up in his chest.

Several of the village's top shinobi were present. Shisui recognized Morino Ibiki and Yamanaka Inoichi kneeling beside him, since his teammates were randomly dispersed throughout the room. Hiruzen and Danzou stood before the room and called it to order.

"We've received a tip earlier today, which was later confirmed by a kunoichi. It's a warning that Konoha is under attack. Six people from the Twelve Fire Guardians are on their way to Konoha this very moment," Hiruzen reported in a loud, booming voice. "And they are not alone. They have a tamed army of what seems to be… wolves… at their disposal. Be warned, these wolves are mostly wild and vicious. It's crucial we prevent them from getting inside the village."

"Wolves?" people cried out. They were shinobi, not hunters. "How are they able to do that?"

"There seems to be some time before they make it to the village. We're going to place a lockdown on the village and create a barrier. All those who are able to fight will report to their leaders at once. We're going to be strong shinobi and fight for Konoha and protect the ones we love!"

There was an immediate roar of agreement amongst the room full of ninja. Shisui applauded along with them but he felt ill at ease.

Orders were given out, along with a plan of action. Hundreds of ninjas started to get to work in an orderly fashion to prepare for action. He scanned the crowd in search of one of his teammates. There was something else Shisui needed to do.

"Yumi!" he called out when he spotted one. He was in a rush.

"Yes, captain?" she replied.

"I'm officially making you in charge of the team today. Everyone will be under your command, understood?" He didn't give her time to think about his order.

Shisui dodged through the crowd of people, searching for the two ninjas he spotted earlier. They were the only people around at the moment whom he thought could help. "Gai-san, Kurenai-san!"

Amidst the many shinobi in the vicinity, it was hard to hear or find people in the crowd. It was also easy to mishear certain things. When they saw Shisui approach them, Gai and Kurenai were puzzled.

"Are you speaking to us?" Kurenai inquired.

"Have you seen Kakashi?"

"Isn't he on a mission?" Gai replied. "Why, you look troubled Shisui-san."

Panic started to settle in Shisui's veins. It didn't seem right that Kakashi disappeared RIGHT when this was happening. "He's been on a work break this past month, not going on ANBU duties like he said he was. Therefore, Kakashi should have been HERE at the meeting when it was called out." But none of the three had spotted their mutual friend during the assembly. This only confirmed Shisui's suspicion that something had gone terribly wrong.

Dumbfounded, Gai was at a loss for words. "He lied to us about being on vacation? My rival doesn't care at all…"

"Gai!" Kurenai said sharply.

"We need to look for Kakashi," Shisui informed them with a pleading voice. "We need to, it's essential for the village, but there's no time to explain why. Will you please help?"

"But we have to get to our respective posts," Kurenai said worriedly. The other shinobi had already taken off to get ready for battle.

Gai shook his head disapprovingly. "No, our friend is missing, and Shisui says it's more important right now. We must go look for him in case something happened. Furthermore, we'll most likely need his help in this battle."

Impressed by Gai's surprising voice of reason, Kurenai grinned. "You're right, Gai. Plus he's our friend. What if something happened to him?"

Instantaneously, Kakashi's words echoed in Shisui's brain again. _"Those who break the rules are scum, but those who choose to abandon their friends are worse than scum." _He never truly understood Kakashi's words until he helped Kakashi save Jiraiya from the river. He used to be someone who cared more about the village than the wellbeing of his friends individually.

Now, he was putting the village on hold in order to find Kakashi. It seemed like he could finally give Kakashi an answer. All he had to do is find him first.

"We've checked every spot that Kakashi usually dwells in," Gai said frustratedly. It was getting dark soon, which meant it would be dangerous to be outside. If the Guardians were to attack, unleashing the wolves, then they would be at a disadvantage on the street.

"Have you tried visiting that little boy, Shisui-san?"

Without a second thought, Shisui darted towards Naruto's apartment. He had been there once, it was when Kakashi placed a bet on how much garbage there was at the boy's house. Shisui had lost and avoided the area like the plague since.

When he and the others got to the apartment, they wasted no time climbing in through the window.

"Who are you?" Naruto squeaked, staring up at the tall faces of the three shinobi. He had been laying on the floor playing with a small grey kitten. "Flickerman! Why are you always coming in through the window?"

That was a nickname he had come up for Shisui. Shisui had not grown used to it, and flushed when he said it so casually. He bent down to Naruto's height and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto was used to Shisui being cheerful and full of zest. Seeing the adults' serious faces both amazed and scared him. He hugged the kitten tighter to his chest.

"Naruto-kun, when was the last time you saw Kakashi?"

"Kakashi-Neko? The last time I saw him was on Monday."

"Did he say anything about what he was doing that day?"

"No, he never said anything. But I saw he bought a bunch of flowers. That's so unlike him." Naruto made a face and stuck out his tongue.

"Perhaps he went to see Mayura-chan?" Kurenai suggested.

"That's highly unlikely. He hates her," Gai said flatly. Kurenai simply pouted.

Still, Shisui didn't want to rule that possibility out. "Let's go find her."

"Wait!" Naruto called out, grabbing Gai's pant leg. "Let me go too! I'm great at finding people."

"Stay here, Naruto. You've done a lot for us," Shisui told him. "Thanks." They left a disgruntled blonde kid behind, alone in his apartment mess.

When they got to Mayura's house, they were surprised to find the bubbly girl look like she had recently cried her eyes out. Kurenai wrapped her arms around the poor girl in comfort. When Mayura saw them, she burst into tears and wouldn't say anything.

"I'm a hundred percent certain that Kakashi did not get her flowers," Gai commented again, staying back as far away from Mayura's sobs.

At this remark, she let out another cry. Kurenai smacked him on the head with her fist.

"Be a little more sensitive, will you?" she hissed.

"Mayura-chan, can you please tell us if you've seen Kakashi recently?" Shisui asked softly.

Mayura did not speak. Instead, she looked up and gave Shisui a sad, pointed stare.

"What's wrong with her?" Gai whispered.

"She's been put under a jutsu that prevents her from speaking about certain topics, and I'm assuming she can't say anything about Kakashi," Shisui announced to everyone's surprise. His Sharingan glowed bright red. They were beautifully crimson like blood, and made Shisui seem tougher, darker, and more dangerous. With the Sharingan, he was able to see the jutsu seal clearly.

Mayura still didn't answer, but her sobbing had ceased. She took one last sniff and grabbed Shisui and Kurenai's hands in order to pull them along somewhere. Perplexed, they followed her.

"I've been a fool," she said quietly to Kurenai as they walked. She hiccupped slightly and rubbed her red nose. "I have an idea now."

First, she led them to another home. Volunteerin, Gai knocked on the door, which opened with a bang. Something large and furry knocked Gai to the ground.

"Kuromaru, behave!" The large grey dog backed down, but barked happily at the visitors.

Inuzaka Tsume stepped outside to greet the strangers. She was dressed in full shinobi uniform, but also feeding a newborn puppy with a bottle. Tsume was part of the Inuzaka clan in Konoha, whose specialty was raising and battling with ninja-trained canines.

"Oh hello there! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Mayura was unable say anything. She turned to the group and gave them pleading eyes.

"It's an emergency, Tsume-san," Kurenai said quickly. "I think Mayura needs your help. But she can't say why."

"Her tongue's been sealed so that she can't speak. We don't know what she wants to show us," Shisui explained. "One of our friends has gone missing. Please help us."

Tsume gave them a hard, thoughtful look. "Even with everything that's going on right now, you youngsters sure are dedicated. I can't help but respect that. Okay, I'll help you out. Mind you, I'm already supposed to be on guard for tonight, because of the whole Guardians issue, but had to feed the pups before I left. Kiba! Take over for me!" she roared, sending the whole neighbourhood shaking. "Come Kuromaru!"

The dog barked obediently.

They left together hastily. Mayura turned to Tsume and gave her a smile. "Those dogs were cute."

"Well, I'm darn glad they didn't seal your ability to say that, darling."

Mayura led them to the cemetery. It was a poorly lit area, but he could tell that there was no one else in the vicinity.

"I'm going back home now," Mayura stated suddenly.

"What?"

Mayura had a small, genuine smile on her face. "This is all I can do. I'm sorry. I wish I can help out more."

"It's okay, Mayura-chan. We'll take over from here," Kurenai said firmly. She gave the girl another hug before letting her return home. "We'll find Kakashi."

They opened the gate doors to the cemetery and walked inside. Shisui had a faint idea of where to start. "Kakashi usually visits the graves of his comrades and his teacher."

They visited Obito's grave first, and then Rin's. They didn't find anything too unusual.

"So I was correct," Gai said as they went over to check out the Fourth Hokage's grave. "Kakashi didn't get the flowers for Mayura-chan. He brought them here."

Gai was absolutely right. When they got to the Hokage's tombstone, they saw the same white, decaying flowers planted in the holder.

"Yeah, I smell that too, Kuromaru," Tsume stated with a low, grim voice. Kuromaru didn't have to sniff around the grave before he started to growl.

"What is it, Tsume-san?"

"It's the smell of blood. Although somewhat faint, indicating that it's been a couple of days." Tsume patrolled the grave area, smelling the air. "But there was definitely a fight on this very spot. There's more than one person's blood's scent."

"After all the clues we've been given, it's looking more like Kakashi was here and got into trouble." Gai made a fist, outraged that something like this could happen.

"Can you trace where it leads to?" Shisui asked her, feeling his body grow cold and numb. They were running out of time.

"I can, and I will."


	17. The Past

**Chapter 17 The Past**

_A few days earlier…_

"Even though you can barely take care of yourself, I think you should learn how to take care of Loki. It'll teach you responsibility."

Naruto sat on the ground with a goofy grin on his face. Kakashi had appeared in his window that morning with a tiny box in his hand. He lifted the cover of the box.

Inside, a tiny silver-grey animal stirred. It peered out of the box curiously, adjusting its eyes to the light. The kitten couldn't have been more than a few days old. It was tiny enough to fit in Naruto's palms.

He reached out, with Kakashi watching contently, and grabbed the tiny kitten. It was squeamish at first and meowed a few times, but Naruto kept it safe in his arms.

"You're letting me have a cat?" he cried out, smiling. "Awesome! I've always wanted a pet of my own!"

"His name is Loki, meaning luck. He's technically my cat, as I will be paying for his food and toys. And I'll help you wash and feed him." Kakashi put away the box and pet the kitten with of his fingers. "But he's all yours to play with and take care of. He'll stay here with you."

"Thanks, Neko-Kaka."

Unexpectedly, Naruto had reached out, kitten still in hand, and wrapped both arms around Kakashi's legs. This took Kakashi by surprise, causing him to nearly fall over. He didn't comment about it, although he felt awkward. Kakashi wasn't used to personal contact.

Naruto, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind. He wasn't used to physical contact with others either, albeit the times he trained with others. It came naturally to him. He was ecstatic over taking care of a new pet.

"I know I probably don't come by often enough. When I go back on my ANBU missions, this means I'll be seeing you less. Loki here will keep you company while I'm gone," Kakashi told him.

"Look at him, he's so adorable!" Naruto held out the kitten above his head. "Ouch, did he just bite me? Why you little…" Naruto pressed his face piercingly close to the kitten's. In response, Loki let out another meow and tapped Naruto's nose with its furry paw.

"He can't live in a place like this," Kakashi continued, gesturing to the unorganized mess in Naruto's apartment. "Unless you want him to get lost in an empty can of soup."

"You're right, Loki deserves better! Let's go and get things cleared up! Come on Kakashi!"

It was like Kakashi meant nothing to Naruto anymore; he only cared about his new feline friend. Naruto made Kakashi sweep the floor and begged him to clean all the tall spaces in the apartment. In the meanwhile, he had set up a space in his bedroom for Loki to sleep in.

"I am not going to pick up your dirty clothes," Kakashi refused adamantly. "Nothing you say will convince me. Anyways, I gotta head out, Naruto. Remember what I told you about feeding, washing, and letting him out to do his business."

"Don't worry, I'm going to potty train him to use the bathroom. And then we'll do ninja training together." The kitten was resting on Naruto's shoulders and purred softly.

Kakashi picked up his things and headed to Naruto's window. It was so much easier to simply jump out than to leave through the front door. He had someplace else he needed to be.

"Ew, you're not giving me those flowers, right?" Naruto wrinkled his nose when he saw the pile of flowers in Kakashi's bag.

"Definitely not, you're too picky." Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's blonde hair and ruffled it. He backed away in protest. "I'm heading out. Take care."

"See you later, Kaka."

Kakashi headed over towards the cemetery, practicing his speech in his head. That day was going to be special. Even though he went nearly every day to visit and that day in particular wasn't more significant than the others, to Kakashi it was something bigger.

He stood by Rin's grave and placed flowers by her name. "You were always a forgiving person, Rin. Even though I'm still not perfect and don't deserve it. But I've finally decided that I need to forgive myself.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to you, Obito. Should have listened to you a long time ago. Even though I've failed you, I decided to make a new promise to both you and myself. I'm going to help your clan, and help Shisui and Itachi."

He then made a stop at his father's grave. "Both you and Obito became my heroes."

It was a little sentimental for Kakashi, but he had a goal. Shisui was right; he hadn't been living his life to the fullest. Kakashi slowly was killing himself, ever since he was young. Every time he lost someone else, it was just another knife that cut him and made him bleed even more.

The last person he visited was Minato's grave, where he repeated the same confession.

"So I won't be around for a long while," Kakashi told his teacher. His voice was surprisingly calm and composed. "I'll come by once or twice a year. My friend made me realize that I need to start paying attention to the living. I guess that doesn't mean I have to erase the memory of you. Shisui's a lot like you, sensei. You said the same thing to me after my father died. I should have listened to you."

There were steps approaching him from behind. The Fourth Hokage's grave was in a small section of its own with other notable buried figures. It was not a surprise that other people would want to pay their respects.

Kakashi turned to leave, feeling refreshed and relieved, like a ton of weight had lifted from his shoulders.

"You're a surprising person, Hatake Kakashi. The man that lives alone and for himself."

He recognized Fugaku's voice before he could see him. A little flustered, Kakashi bowed to the older man.

"That's not so true anymore. It's good to have people in your life."

"So you've resorted to pulling schemes with my son."

Kakashi stared the other man down, eye to eye. "We're friends," he said firmly.

The older man's voice was icy cold. "Why should anybody be friends with you? If they sign up for that, they might end up dead. Itachi knows that he'll die if he teams up with you. He knows that now."

"What do you want from me?" Kakashi asked with the same stony expression.

"To hear from your own mouth the reason why you're interfering with the clan."

A tense silent pause took place as Kakashi tried to formulate a reply. "You just said that I was the type of man that had no one to care for. That's not true anymore. There are some things worth protecting."

"So what you're doing is for the best interest of my son and Shisui?"

"Why help the Uchiha clan?"

"The village is where my entire life revolves around, and the Uchiha clan is a part of this village. One day, if Konoha were to faceoff against a threat, how will it be able to stand on its own? A wall won't hold up if there's a crack in it."

"Our clan also believes that the village is in ruins. The leaders of Konoha are corrupt and make things worse for us. You and I have the same goal, Kakashi. You want to fix the crack in the wall that makes up Konoha. We want to fix it too, by our own methods." Fugaku held out a hand towards Kakashi. "You want to redeem yourself for your past mistakes? Then I'm offering you the chance. Help the Uchiha at our side."

This was what Fugaku had been planning all along. Despite Kakashi's reputation, his record proved that he was a powerful ninja and would be an asset to their plan. He had it all figured out. There was Itachi, Shisui, and Kakashi on the side of the Council. He did his research and could easily argue that these were some of the top shinobi in the entire village. All three of them were prodigies. And if he had all three of them on their side, then their Coup would run smoothly in no time.

That's why he had approached Kakashi. He wanted him on their side.

Kakashi did not accept his hand. "I will not aid you in your coup. What you're doing will destroy the Clan," he said pointedly. "Fugaku-sama, I urge you to reconsider."

"There is no other way. We've looked at every possibility."

Kakashi sighed. "No you haven't. I will not help you run the Uchiha into the ground."

"Very well," Fugaku said, his face forever frowning. "You would have been a great asset to us. I can see that the time I spent here was wasted."

"It won't be a waste if you take my words to heart and change your mind."

Fugaku sternly walked out of the cemetery clearing. He glanced at a person at the gates and nodded affirmatively.

Kakashi followed Fugaku's exit after a few minutes, contemplating his next piece of action. Fugaku was extremely hard-headed. He wondered what they were going to do, now that Kakashi was aware of their coup d'etat.

As he passed by a stranger standing at the gates, Kakashi's insides ran cold and he did a double-take. Something was not right. The stranger was a man his height who looked extremely familiar.

"Obito?" he whispered.

The person in question had walked by Kakashi without a word and stood in front of Minato's grave. From behind, Kakashi recognized the orange goggles sitting on top of his black moppy hair.

"Hey, excuse me." He tapped the person on the shoulder. "You look familiar."

When Kakashi saw his face, he felt a mixture of emotions. This person was a man who looked exactly like how Kakashi pictured the adult version of Obito would be. There was the same mouth, nose, face, and even the same set of black piercing eyes. That wasn't right though, Kakashi knew. Obito had given him an eye. And this man looked perfectly healthy, even though Obito's body should have been crushed and broken years ago.

The man smiled eerily. Before Kakashi was aware or ready, the person attacked. He threw several blows at Kakashi and sent him crashing onto a nearby tombstone. A split second later, a shuriken was thrown into Kakashi's leg, thereby slowing him down.

"Your weaknesses are an open book," the man snarled.

"What kind of game are you pulling?"

Kakashi blocked the person's next attack and raised chidori at the Obito imposter. Even though his left leg was bleeding, Kakashi jumped and threw a fireball jutsu while midair.

"Kakashi!"

"Rin?"

Distracted, Kakashi discovered too late when a poisonous gas bomb erupted around him. He leapt out of the cloud of gas but realized that he inhaled a bit of it. It slowed him down. He covered his mouth and coughed.

There was someone else standing next to the fake Obito. When he squinted his eyes, he could make out a little girl that looked remarkably like Rin. Except, she was the little girl version of his friend. He knew that this one was also a fake. He threw a dagger in her direction.

He tried stand up straight, but his vision blurred all of a sudden. The next moment, Kakashi felt a piercing pain appear in his chest. He looked down to see a sword sticking out from under his ribs. He didn't have time to think or react when someone threw a blow to his head.

He lay on the ground, coughing viciously. Raising his head, Kakashi saw three figures beyond the purple gas cloud. He did a double-take when he spotted the Rin look-a-like. The two people beside her undid the jutsu and the girl molded into Mayura, who was white-faced with fear.

"Get out of here!" he croaked, noticing that the fake Obito had changed back to his regular appearance. They were two unknown Uchiha clan members. Fugaku must have sent them after Kakashi. It was sick; they psychologically attacked Kakashi, which gave them the upper hand. "Mayura, go!"

"I found her spying on you in the bushes, so I thought… Hey, we should use this against Hatake," one of the attackers stated. He held Mayura by the hair. Mayura squinted her eyes shut and hysterically sobbed. She wasn't putting up a fight.

"S-sorry Kakashi! I wanted to see you, but I was t-too scared to talk to you," she hiccupped uncontrollably. She was embarrassed as hell.

Angry, Kakashi pushed himself up and tried not to wince at his wounds. "Don't you dare hurt her."

He may not be fond of that girl or find an interesting person, but he sure as hell wouldn't let them attack somebody innocent. Mayura did nothing wrong. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Putting his hands together, Kakashi quickly performed a jutsu that he copied from a ninja from the Land of Wind. A gust of wind, naked to the regular eye, knocked the two men several meters off their feet. Between them, Mayura shrieked and wrapped her arms around herself. However, she remained in her rooted spot.

"Move out of the way, Mayura," Kakashi told her. "Get to somewhere safe."

Pulling his headband out of his Sharingan, Kakashi started to seriously fight back. One thing he had noticed about these two Uchihas was that they had not activated their Sharingan. From what he heard from Shisui, activating it took years to accomplish, and that was just the normal Sharingan. There were more evolved versions that he still had yet to see, although it was hinted that Shisui was capable of it.

He fought efficiently and soon gained the upper hand. Kakashi had both of the men on the ground with ropes tied around their arms. He restrained them as best as he could, using all the energy he had left inside of him. This was a jutsu he had learned (copied) from Yamato; creating a special wood jutsu that tied itself around the men.

They resisted forcefully, but did not look defeated.

"He's holding back," one of the men told his comrade. "Otherwise he would have killed us by now."

"I don't want to kill you," Kakashi snapped. "However, if you force me to, then I might."

The man who pretended to be Obito barred his teeth. "We still have a trick up our sleeve."

Mayura gasped and put both hands on her mouth. She noticed her forehead was heating up rapidly. "Kakashi, there's something wrong."

She came out from behind a tree, horrified. There was an explosive seal written on her forehead in thick black ink. It glowed brightly and increased intensity slowly.

"Stop it," Kakashi demanded, his eyes widening. "Whatever you do, just leave her alone."

The two men struggled in their bindings. If he let go, then they would come loose.

"The way to unseal this special jutsu is to use the following hand signs: ox, sheep, rat, rat, ox."

He gulped, realizing the men's intentions. The jutsu required two hands to perform otherwise he couldn't unseal Mayura. This was a trap, which he decided he had no choice but to fall into.

She looked scared and helpless, waiting for Kakashi to come and help her. He was not going to live with another person's blood on his hands.

Aware that he was going to lose, Kakashi let go of the wooden rope and quickly did the hand signs before they could get to him. Mayura screamed when Kakashi's head was bashed in with a metal bat, just as he performed the last hand sign. He exhausted the last of his chakra as the explosive seal was lifted and fell to the ground with a final thud.

One of the men took Kakashi down while his back was turned, and the other one aimed right at Mayura's throat.

**1342809285**

Discreetly, Sora and Yashiro carried Kakashi's lifeless body out of Konoha by passing out of the forest by the Uchiha district. The borders in the area were patrolled by ANBU ninjas, but they usually positioned themselves a couple miles away form the border. There was a lot of forest space for the people to build their own caverns and secret hideouts right in Konoha's proximity.

They ventured into an underground cave, which had been dug out several years ago by some Uchiha members that betrayed the village and fled. They left the hideout when other clan members found it, and it had been kept secret by the clan ever since. The underground room contained a very long musky tunnel leading them from behind a large boulder covered in bushes.

"What if we might accidentally kill him?"

"We're not going to kill him, relax. This is the only way to get him out of the way. He knows about the coup and will try to stop it. We can't let that happen."

Yashiro pursed his lips nervously. "He said he was helping us in his own way. He doesn't deserve this."

Annoyed with Yashiro's constant worrying, Sora pummeled a fist into his brother's shoulder. "Quite whining, Yashi. You know why we need to do this. There's only one way we'll ever be treated as equals, to not be discriminated against. This is something we've wanted our entire lives."

"Okay. We're going to keep him here and then we'll let him go after the coup?"

"Exactly. And we won't be in trouble because the clan will be in charge by then."

Kakashi was set down on the ground. He groggily faded in and out of consciousness as they tied his wrists to a loose chain on the ground. They propped him against the wall and made sure his abdomen stopped bleeding.

"We'll keep him here until the coup happens," Sora said as they left the entrance of the cave. "Nobody knows he's in here, so they won't come looking for him."


	18. Unforgiveable

**Chapter 18 Unforgiveable**

Hastily following the shinobi from the Inuzaka clan, Shisui gulped several times nervously. A few seconds ago, an emergency bell rang and sounded all across Konoha. This was a sign that the village was under attack.

"The wolves have made their way near the city, but they haven't entered inside yet," Tsume informed them while they ran, easing the tension slightly. She had a strong nose. "No outsiders have come in yet."

Shisui sweated nervously. If his suspicions were correct, then he was expecting the Uchiha clan to break out and fight at any moment now. He had expected the Coup to be a little more low-key than to cause a full-scale damaging battle. From the moment they announced that there would be wolves involved, he suspected his clan.

This was because Shisui found a forbidden scroll in one of the temples. It was locked up and hidden, but he had been granted access to examine ancient artifacts one time. In the past, he did a lot of studying, which included deciphering codes, learning languages and dialects, and reading about old jutsus. There was one scroll that contained a forbidden jutsu that taught a user how to control wolves.

It would not be hard to believe that somebody in the clan broke in, took it, and offered it to the Guardians. However, it was difficult for Shisui to accept that they were willing to go this far.

"Kakashi's scent stops up ahead," Tsume called out to them. They were at the edges of the city, therefore they could only rely on a couple of lamps to see through the dark, dense forest.

He activated his Sharingan in order to see more clearly. Even though there were guards at all sides of the city, it was dangerous to be outside when wolves could attack at any minute.

"Where could he be, Tsume-san?" Kurenai asked.

"That's the problem. His scent seems to stop and disappear all together. To make things worse, there are two men hiding, approximately ten meters away in our 2 o'clock direction," Tsume announced.

They surrounded the two men quickly. Shisui recognized. They were members of the clan, Sora and Yashiro, who lived on his block. The two men were dressed in Leaf shinobi gear and looked like they were arguing. They had their packs on gear strewn all over the ground.

"Sora, Yashiro, are you guarding this section of the village burder?" Tsume demanded. "If so, you are acting unprofessionally."

"Y-yes, we're assigned to this section," Yashiro said uncertainly.

"Have you seen Kakashi-san," Gai inquired suspiciously.

At this question, Yashiro began to stutter and his words became gibberish. The entire group closed in on the duo cautiously.

"Stop, don't come any further!" Sora roared and brandished a silver sword.

Yashiro also held up a kunai but was shaking. "You should be here!" He sounded hysterical.

"These two have Kakashi's scent all over them," Tsume and Kuromaru both growled. Tsume was a little worried, although she didn't voice it. The smell of Kakashi's blood was extremely strong. "Where are you two hiding him?"

"You two better 'fess up or you'll pay!" Gai exclaimed. He held up his fists, ready for a fight.

"See, I told you they're looking for him," Yashiro hissed in a low voice at his brother. "What do we do now?"

"Nothing!" Sora roared, glaring furiously. "This is none of your business! Yashiro, we can't let them find it. If they do, that will be the end of us!"

"That's our friend!" Kurenai cried out.

"Sora-san, Yashiro-san. I have a suspicion on why you took Kakashi," Shisui spoke calmly, meeting their eyes. "There's no justifiable reason to do this though. He's wanted to help the clan will all of his heart."

Sora shook his head furiously, refusing to listen to him. "We were ordered to. We had to, for the sake of the clan… The village is meant to fall. They deserve to fall."

They were on the verge of attacking each other when something unexpected happened.

"Stop! I'll show you where Kakashi is." Everyone looked at Yashiro, who seemed to be struggling with words. "He needs help straight away."

"Take us, then," Gai said to Yashiro. Yashiro seemed to genuinely want to cooperate.

"They'll blame us!" Sora shouted, waving his sword at Yashiro.

Shisui instantly blocked the attack with his arm and threw Sora to the ground. He had become deadly serious.

"Yashiro-san, please take my friends to Kakashi's location." Although it was a request, his tone indicated it was an order. "Gai-san, make sure he gets to the hospital right away."

Gai nodded firmly and they hastily followed Yashiro to the cave entrance.

When they had departed, Sora was left to deal with the strongest member in the Uchiha clan. There were rumours that Shisui could be the strongest ninja in all of Konoha. Along with his abilities, he had an extensive record for the most successful missions, the most kills, information gathered, etc. Sora knew he was no match for his senpai.

Surprisingly, Shisui did not hit him.

"I want to know why you hate the village," Shisui asked. His arms were crossed and his tone stern.

Sora growled under his breath. "We thought you were one of us. Do you know what it's like to lose someone you love? Do you know what it feels like to have the village forsake your very own family just because of our bloodline?"

"Yes, I do know what feels like," Shisui answered simply. "What did the village do to you? Why do they deserve this?" he said with gritted teeth.

Yashiro broke out with a reply. "Our younger sister died because Konoha doesn't care about the clan. The hospital couldn't treat her illness in time. The village is incompetent. The Hokage is incompetent. We deserve someone better."

"What we need to do is create an understanding and work together in the village," Shisui told him. "

"They never have and they never will understand us," Sora said bitterly. "We were trying to create a future where the Uchiha clan is seen as equal. Where we're no longer discriminated against and can freely walk through the village without being spied on 24/7."

"And you think the way to do this is to take one of my friends and torture him?" Shisui exploded. "I share your same dream. I want a world where there's peace and cooperation within the village. The only way to do that is to see eye to eye. That is something that you haven't been able to do."

"And how was Hatake Kakashi supposed to help?" Sora retorted.

"Kakashi has been the first non-clan member to help us selflessly for the past few months. If you had more faith, then you'll see what he can do for us. The only way to get what we're looking for is peace. Fighting leads to more fighting. Hate leads to more hate. When will it end? We should be working on a common goal."

"What common goal?!"

"This attack on Konoha… help us stop it. They'll hurt everyone in the village; they don't care about the clan. It doesn't matter what kind of promise or deal you struck with them."

Sora made a face. "What are you talking about? We're not working with the Guardians."

Kurenai showed up at that moment, frowning deeply. Shisui feared that Kakashi's condition might be worse than he thought.

"Shisui-san! Gai and Tsume-san found Kakashi and are heading to the hospital with Kuromaru right now. But I just received word from Sarotobi Asuma… the six Guardians are here."

**23508058209853**

Itachi also suspected that his clan was responsible for the upcoming attack. He figured that they snuck out the forbidden scroll and planned a night to attack Konoha in order to kill the Hokage. Additionally, he noticed that several Uchiha shinobi were missing from duty.

When they heard the first sounds of howling and wild animals, that's when things became interesting. Hiding in the trees, shinobi began to fire arrows at the wolves. They were bloodthirsty, hungry, and snarled viciously at the unseen attackers.

"Damn," the other shinobi hissed.

The wolves were shooting right pass them since their numbers were larger than they could keep up with. Itachi abandoned his post and went after several of them.

"Katon! Gokakyu no jutsu!" He released a gigantic ball of fire at a group of wolves, careful not to set the trees on fire. The wolves did not catch fire, but yelped at the intense heat and ran in the other direction. Itachi had to do his best to keep as many of them away from the village as possible.

An hour passed by, pushing Itachi and the other shinobi to their limits. He was exhausted, since he was using the most energy and chakra to keep up with the numbers. Every time it seemed like the wolves were cleared, another pack of them turned up.

Itachi had run out of arrows and used up most of his chakra on ninjutsu. He was now on the forest floor fighting with taijutsu and a sword.

A large pack of wolves dashed at him. He cut a few of their throats and easily threw them down. In the distance, he could see his father holding up with a few guards at his side.

"Itachi, above you."

Without even looking up, Itachi stuck his sword up above his head. A small wolf came crashing down the blade, coming from out of nowhere. "Where have you been, Shisui?"

His friend looked troubled. Shisui had found him and started to fight alongside Itachi. "The clan took and tortured Kakashi. He was missing for four days. We just found him, although he's on the brink of death."

Itachi stared at Shisui with disbelief. "That's terrible… Will he live?"

"They think that he'll survive. I'm more worried about his mental health. They must have tried to break him."

"That's unforgiveable. They'll have to pay."

"It looks like you care about Kakashi more than you'd like to admit."

The clan couldn't be forgiven this time around, Itachi thought. He felt guilty, concerned, despite his dislike for the white-haired man. He couldn't condone their actions.

"The name of the Uchiha clan doesn't deserve to be respected," Itachi said mournfully. His heart had been jumping back and forth lately. He felt like he was ready to give up on the clan. "Especially after this attack. Kakashi shouldn't help the clan anymore. It's a lost cause."

"Actually, it seems like the clan isn't responsible for this. The forbidden scroll was stolen and somehow landed in the Guardians' hands," Shisui informed him.

Itachi thought back to the mysterious orange-masked man. He remembered catching him in the clan's building where the scroll had been housed. How could he have known they kept the scroll there?


	19. Scrolls

**Chapter 19 **

Kakashi struggled to open his eyes. The first thing he noticed was he was laying down in bed. It was quite comfortable and warm. There waes the smell of cookies in the room too.

"Where is my mask?" he burst out suddenly. His hands flew to his bare face in shock. There was no headband or mask on his head. Kakashi felt naked.

Looking down at himself, he realized that the rest of his body under the sheets was nude also. He was covered in bandages and had a cast on one of his legs. Kakashi felt like there was too much white in the room and tried to pry off some bandages in his arm.

"Stop what you're doing!" someone ordered, entering the room.

Kakashi's other hand covered his face, which gave the healer a glare. He kept his left eye firmly closed. "I want my mask."

He remained laying on his hospital bed for the next couple hours as doctors and nurses checked up on him. They commented frequently on how well his chakra levels had been restored, complained about his immature demands for a mask, and said that he seemed to be healing well.

"After spending the past few days alone and in pain, I thought you would have gone insane," his doctor told him. "But your mental health seems to be alright. I suggest you take it easy."

Kakashi rolled his eyes, which the doctor couldn't see underneath his long white hair. It hung over his eyes, limp and ready to be trimmed.

"What's been going on?" he asked a nurse who came by with food. She looked extremely frazzled and busy, but Kakashi wanted some answers. He hated being forced to stay inside the room.

"Last night, the village was attacked, so our hands have been kind of full."

"Where is everybody now?" Kakashi noticed that it was night time again.

"Where do you think they are? Every shinobi out there is either in this hospital or still on the battlefield."

His eyes widened. "I should be out there!"

"Not with those injuries," she said sharply, pushing his head back onto his pillow. "Drink up and rest. We'll let you know the full report of your injuries soon."

"Tell me what's happening, please," he added as an afterthought.

"Six of the twelve guardians are attacking Konoha," she told him. "And they've recruited wild wolves using an ancient jutsu. They've been fighting for the past two nights by keeping guard."

Kakashi threw his feet over the side of his bed. "Where are my clothes?"

"You can't get up and leave! Your injuries are too severe," the nurse cried out.

Cringing, Kakashi realized that he wasn't in condition to fight. Nevertheless, he ignored the pain and managed to prop himself up into a standing condition. "I have to help them. Made a promise…" he muttered tiredly.

Despite their protests, Kakashi pushed himself out of the hospital in a wheelchair. He managed to sneak past the nurses, who were busy mending the wounds of other shinobi that were being brought it in endless waves.

It was late night, so most of the houses and apartments he passed by were pitch black inside. However, Kakashi knew that family members and friends of the people fighting were probably wide awake and praying. The lights were off, but people were stirring.

When he got to the Uchiha district, he thought the same thing. He managed to force himself to propel the wheelchair up a few stairs and to a building that the clan used as a temple.

To his surprise, the building was packed with people, including children and elders. "Who are you?" someone demanded.

Kakashi introduced himself quietly and pushed his wheelchair into the room. All eyes were on the strange man with the bruised face and bandages wrapped around his body. He probably would be unrecognizable even to himself. "What's going on here? I thought every shinobi was out fighting."

"What use is there?" a woman said out loud. "The village is going to blame us, and we'll be punished when the battle is over."

"You're going to sit here and let this happen, like it means nothing to you?"

"Kakashi-san, you shouldn't be out of the hospital."

He did a double-take when Yashiro tapped him on the shoulder. Chills went up his spine immediately. "You…" he muttered.

"I helped your friends bring you to the hospital not too long ago. How are you able to get up?" Yashiro said in awe. "You should not be able to move."

Kakashi ignored the sympathy. "What are you all planning to do?"

"Honestly? We're fleeing from Konoha," Yashiro confessed. "After what happened in the cave… and with the wolves… there's no way that the village will let us stay here anyway. The clan is going to leave as soon as there's an opening."

He stared at the clan in disbelief. This was not going to be the result of his, Shisui's, and Itachi's hard work. There had to be another way. "You want to be accepted in all of Konoha, but you won't fight to defend your village," he said loudly. There was disappointment in his voice. "It's true that you and the village have not seen eye to eye in the past several years. However, that can still change. If we learn how to work together, then one day we'll share mutual respect with each other."

"You mean, we have to work together because we share a common goal?"

A black-eyed Sora stood up and walked over to Kakashi. His face was bruised and he was limping slightly. He glared at Kakashi with uttermost disgust.

"Our goal is to help stop this attack once and for all. I was at the hospital. I've seen how many shinobi we've already lost," Kakashi told them. He thought back to the people he saw with bite marks all over their limbs and ripped clothing. "They've been fighting for all of us, including the Uchiha."

"Kakashi-san is right," Yashiro spoke up. Kakashi let him, despite his underlying annoyance at the younger man. "We're one village. They would die to protect us, despite our history."

"We should at least be helping them," another member of the clan agreed. "We'll prove to them our worth to the village." i

"What about the aftermath?" Sora demanded.

"We'll accept the consequences after this is over," Yashiro decided. He gave Kakashi a nod.

The entire assembly seemed willing to cooperate. Most of the kids had fallen asleep in their parents arms. Those ninja that were willing to help stood up and marched forward. Sora gave up arguing, but he remained seated cross-legged on the floor.

"How should we help?" someone asked.

"I had a plan. Initially, I came here because I was looking for another scroll," Kakashi said out loud. He drew in a deep breath. "My friend once told me that his family held a secret set of techniques that they sealed away, fearing it was too dangerous to use. If I could see the list of jutsus, then maybe we can find a way to counteract the jutsu used on the wolves. None of the normal tactics used by the village seem to be working effectively."

"Does anyone know where this scroll would be?" Yashiro called out.

At the back of the assembly, Fugaku had crossed his arms and was staring blankly at the wall behind Kakashi. He pursed his lips and examined the beaten up man. He was the man responsible for what happened to Kakashi, but he showed no signs of guilt or remorse.

"Fugaku-sama," someone approached him. "Will you reveal the location of those scrolls?"

Across the room, Kakashi made eye contact with the leader of the clan. He held a steady, composed gaze, which Fugaku had to respect. Not many people could look him in the eye and stand his ground.

He was aware that he would get into trouble for ordering the capture of Kakashi. But it seemed like the clan would be in danger unless they could stop the attack. He had to protect his people.

"It's this way," he sighed, walking to the door of another room.

Yashiro helped Kakashi through and they entered a library. Kakashi followed, keeping his face stoic and his guard up. He did not trust Fugaku completely. Unbeknownst to the others, Kakashi was aware that they weren't the ones responsible for his beatings. But they were equally responsible because it was their fault he was chaiend up.

In one of the secret compartments lined up on the wall, Fugaku revealed several scrolls.

"This could be a waste of time. There may be nothing useful to successfully stop those wolves. The only option would be to kill all of them."

Kakashi examined each scroll intensely. There were many techniques listed, some of which were modified variations of normal shinobi jutsu. "This technique does not require direct physical contact of the user," he pointed to a line on the page. "It says that it can create some kind of boundary. When crossed, it will activate any technique in question."

He formed a plan in his mind. "If we can combine that with the regular 'confusion' technique, we could draw the wolves out of the village. It could dispel most of them from Konoha."

"It won't stop the original technique," Fugaku argued. "As long as the technique user is alive, it'll still remain active and there will be more wolves summoned."

"It should help buy time."

"But Fugaku-sama, Itachi-san and Shisui-san are fighting the Guardians at this moment," Yashiro informed him. Fugaku raised his head. "Shisui-san informed me that he would personally deal with them."

Fugaku seemed to sigh dejectedly. "I have faith in my son's abilities, and in Shisui's. Very well. Employ every eligible shinobi from the clan to all areas of the village and get them to perform the technique."


	20. Conclusions

**Chapter 20 Conclusions**

Meanwhile, Gai recently joined the action. There was a section of the village where wolves had infiltrated, so he was busy defending the streets. There were hundreds of wolves. Even though they put a physical defensive barricade, it was weak. The wolves eventually managed to tear down the technique. He could tell that the shinobi around them were getting exhausted.

"We must persevere!" he told them, slashing the throat of one wolf. "Protect the homes of the children. We can't let them break through further. We have to clear the wolves before we can go help Asuma."

He fought with renewed strength and kept his head held high. Gai had faith in his fellow comrades, especially in Asuma. They had encountered him before the wolves broke through. Asuma and a group of Guardians had informed Gai that they were going to lead the attacking Guardians away from Konoha.

It seemed hopeless. Gai and the dozen shinobi with them were stuck inside the village, fending off the wild beasts one by one. He took a small break to gather his strength when it appeared the wolves stopped approaching.

"Wait, what's going on?"

After some time, it seemed the wolves stopped coming. They waited patiently, weapons ready, for more to come, but it seemed like the attack was nearing its end.

"Go around the sides and by the parks. We have to make absolutely sure there aren't any more around."

Gai noticed that there were shinobi running up to them frantically. "Oy!"

It was the Uchiha police force, he noticed. At first, he narrowed his eyes distrustfully. However, he noticed that Yashiro was one of the ninja. Even though he was responsible for Kakashi's condition, Gai felt like he could trust him.

"We've managed to set up a few hours ago," Yashiro informed them. "These barriers are a technique that the Uchiha clan has formed. They've been set up at the following location." He gave a quick report of the clan's formation.

"This is great," several people commented. They were wiping sweat off their faces tiredly.

Gai took this as the perfect opportunity to aid Asuma. He quickly went to find Kurenai, who was located at the village gates.

"This is great. Thanks to the clan, the wolves have stopped attacking and started to wander back out," Kurenai told him.

"We can go fight by Asuma's side now," Gai said, grinning.

However, by the time they reached the site of the battle where the Guardians had gotten extremely close to the village, they discovered that the attack was over too.

"The Guardians have been defeated."

Along with Hiruzen and ANBU shinobi, every fighter was gathered around the site. The Hokage was unscathed, but every other shinobi sported some kind of injury.

Hiruzen approached Gai and Kurenai with thoughtful smiles.

"Asuma has helped settle the dispute. All the wolves should revert to normal soon. The village is no longer in danger," Hiruzen announced.

**23490238508**

"Father, how could you?"

After the battle was finished, everyone went back to either the hospital or headquarters to recuperate. Itachi found Fugaku with the rest of the clan members sitting on the grounds in front of the hospital. They were getting their injuries treated, which were thankfully minor.

"Itachi. You made it out okay," Fugaku stated.

"You issued the order for Kakashi's torture," Itachi stated boldly. His clothes and his face was covered in sweat and dirt. However, Itachi had turned out unmarked. "Even if you and the clan tried to redeem yourselves, what you did was unforgiveable."

Fugaku raised his eyebrow. "Kakashi-san was captured, but I made no such command for him to be tortured."

"Then why did Shisui find him beaten up and on the verge of dying?"

Itachi was disappointed with his father. He was disappointed with the clan. He was so furious that it did not occur to him when his father had showed up to join the fight. He became redfaced and started shaking.

"Itachi, calm down," Shisui approached him and put an arm on his shoulder. "Our clan helped out. This battle ended successfully thanks to them."

"Actually, the credit goes to Kakashi," Fugaku stated briskly. "He's the reason for the clan's change of heart. I, alone, could not inspire my own clan, but it seemed like Kakashi was able to."

They were stunned. "His body was beaten and broken. He should still be unconscious right now. Where is he?"

**32895020589**

Kakashi was in the Hokage's office, where the other members of the Village Council were present. He was still stuck in a wheelchair and was feeling the effects of his anesthesia wear off.

"The village is in your debt," Hiruzen told him. "Not only was the battle a success, after you tipped the scales in our favour, but you created a new alliance with the Uchiha clan. Take some time off to heal."

"We were informed that you were taken captive for four days," Koharu said. "Were you able to identify your captors? Your friends weren't given the chance to report anything before they went to fight."

Kakashi bowed his head. He was still sore and his body and face were still bruised. However, he managed to release a small smile. "No, you must have been mistaken. I wasn't captured or tortured. I was hurt in an incident related to this attack and don't recall much of what happened."

**238908235082**

A couple days after the incident, Itachi visited Kakashi's home. The older man refused to stay in the hospital for much longer and promised the nurses that he would stay in bed to sleep. Kakashi admitted that he used up a lot of energy just to get up and cross the village on the night of the attack.

When Itachi got there, he found Naruto sleeping at the foot of Kakashi's bed, snuggled up to a cat.

"Why did you do it?"

Kakashi looked up from his book interestedly. "Itachi, good morning."

"The clan doesn't deserve it. Why didn't you report what they did to you?" Itachi felt a mixture of unidentifiable emotions. "My father… was responsible for what happened to you. I apologize."

Putting his book down, Kakashi simply smiled at the young ninja. "The clan was able to prove their worthwhile and gained Konoha's respect. They managed to prove themselves and were willing to accept the consequences of their actions. Yashiro and your father knew that."

"Even so, they still sinned."

Pleased to see that Itachi cared, even though he was trying hard not to show it, Kakashi tried to reason with him. "I wasn't going to take away what they just accomplished. The relationship with the clan and the Village Council has gotten significantly better overnight. Do you want to know why that is?"

Itachi stared blankly at his friend. "Because… they had a common goal… and worked together?" he said, feeling dorky.

"Exactly."

"I still can't forgive them for torturing you." Itachi stared at the wounds on Kakashi's face, chest, and limbs. He made a fist angrily.

"I haven't forgiven them either," Kakashi admitted. He took in a deep breath. "They inflicted more than just physical wounds on me." He recalled how they transformed into Obito and Rin. "However, I believe they weren't the ones who walked in and beat me. Not your father, Yashiro, or Sora."

Itachi was dumbfounded by Kakashi's willingness to let things go. He couldn't understand why Kakashi was selflessly focused on the clan.

"You're distrusting. Itachi, you need to have more faith in your others. Have faith in your clan," Kakashi told him. "We're strong too."

"You're right," Itachi said, nodding his head.

His heart had been easily swayed lately. But Itachi observed that Kakashi's beliefs and his heart never changed. He was willing to help the Uchiha in spite of what they did to him. Even though they didn't torture him, they still captured him. His father had admitted to that.

"See you later, Itachi," Kakashi called out before he left. "And can you tell Shisui I said hello? I haven't see him since long BEFORE I got captured."

Nodding his head, Itachi left the apartment. There was someone he needed to see.

**2359082350**

Just as the masked man said, Itachi found him in the exact same spot, at the very time he said he would appear by. "Have you made your decision?"

Approaching the orange-masked man cautiously, Itachi held out a sword. He remembered that physical attacks seemed to go through the man, but that meant the man couldn't touch him if he didn't want to get stabbed himself.

"Don't come back to Konoha. Leave us alone," Itachi said dangerously.

The masked man seemed disappointed. "Aww, and I thought you would make a great addition to the team."

"I know you're behind the attack on Konoha," Itachi said darkly. "You stole the scroll and gave it to the Guardians. You wanted to paint the Uchiha in a bad light. And another thing… I know it was you who tortured Kakashi."

The man barked with laughter, loudly. "You've grown softhearted towards the clan? What a fool," he said with a wicked laugh. "And yes, I happen to discover the secret hideout they used to keep him there."

"No matter what, I will not join you," Itachi said firmly. "I will not harm anyone in my clan or my village. If you ever come back to Konoha, then I will kill you."

The masked man took a step back in surprise. Itachi's eyes had flashed; the pattern of his Sharingan changed patterns at that very moment.

"Well, I guess I have no choice but to leave," the man said with an amused cackle. "Things have turned out differently than I thought it would. Never mind that, I got a chance to learn more about you." Then the masked man disappeared from that spot once more.

Itachi's hands reached up towards his eyes. He realized that his Sharingan was different. "Mangekyo sharingan," he whispered incredulously.

**23750823505**

When Kakashi was finally able to get up and walk, he couldn't wait to leave his apartment. It had been a few weeks since the incident and he had been by himself ever since. Kakashi encouraged Naruto to focus on school and training, so he only saw the little boy occasionally.

"I'm letting Loki stay with you," Naruto told him one morning before he left for school. "He's going to keep you company while you're alone!"

Kakashi took the cat with him to the park, glad for the fresh air. His stab wound had closed off and he would need the stitches removed soon. The biggest problem was his internal injuries, but hopefully they would heal too.

On his way to the park, he encountered the strange old woman again. This would be the third time he ran into her. "Hello, grandma," he said, bowing his head. It strained him to properly bow at the waist.

"I told you that you'd be able to change fate."

He had a flashback to another time where he bumped into the strange woman one afternoon.

_"Such a bratty child," she scolded Naruto, who stuck out his tongue from behind Kakashi's leg._

_"It's not his fault. That's what kids do," Kakashi said nervously. He recognized her as the old lady he helped once before. _

_She pointed a wrinkly finger at Kakashi. "You. You've got to change the kid's mind." _

_"What are you talking about?" He was confused. How was he supposed to change Naruto into an obedient, rule-abiding kid? _

_"Otherwise many will suffer."_

_"Come on now, Naruto can be a handful but he doesn't make people SUFFER." _

_Kakashi rolled his eyes at the little shinobi-to-be. _

_"It's up to you to change fate," she spat at him. _

"How was I able to change Naruto?" he wondered.

The woman shook her head, raising her nose high into the air. "I was talking about the other Uchiha child. That Itachi boy."

Kakashi did a double take. "Itachi isn't a boy. Although I do forget sometimes that he's extremely young. Are you saying that I changed Itachi's mind about something?"

"That's right, and it led to saving hundreds of lives. But your choice will have drastic outcomes for the future."

Stunned, Kakashi sat down on a park bench later with Loki in his lap. He thought over the old woman's words carefully. She was an odd, slightly crazy person. But he took her words to heart.

"Was that old lady a seer?" he muttered, playing with Loki's paws.

"Hey, Kakashi."

"Shisui!" Kakashi brightened instantly and beamed at his friend. "I haven't seen you in a while! I heard you and Itachi came into combat with one of the Guardians."

Shisui sat down on the bench beside Kakashi. He looked extremely guilty and flustered. "Yeah, everyone's been dubbing us heroes. I can't seem to go out to eat at a shop without someone calling me a hero."

"I wish I could have fought too."

Sighing, Shisui looked up at the clouds. "Sorry I haven't visited you before until now. I haven't seen you since… I said those words…."

"Don't be," Kakashi cut in sharply. "It was only thanks to you that I was able to let my past go. You were absolutely right. The day I got captured, I was saying final goodbyes to the people I lost."

"Still, I should have said something sooner. I apologize," Shisui said again.

"You can make it up to me by delivering me pizza one of these days. I'm sick of chicken soup and ramen noodles," Kakashi told him, only half-joking. "And I'm sorry for being a stubborn, hard-headed person."

"Thanks for helping the clan," Shisui said. "For the most part, they're extremely fond of you now. If you walked into the district, they would treat you to meals, baked goods, you name it."

Kakashi's eyes gleamed. "Let's go right now."

Shisui still looked extremely guilty. "It's my fault that you-"

"Stop it. It wasn't your fault at all. Plus, Gai told me that you helped get me out of that hell-hole."

Shisui thought back to Kakashi's lifeless body that they dragged out of the cave. "Kuromaru was mainly responsible for that," he admitted. "I think the clan entrusted Tsume-san's clan with the forbidden scroll that was retrieved. It's more fitting this way."

"See? Everything turned out for the better."

"Except Danzo tried to take my Sharingan."

Kakashi's jaw dropped. "He attemped to do… what?"

"Danzo confronted me, saying it was suspicious that the clan suddenly stopped all of their plans for a coup d'etat. But that was just a cover, since he had Formation shinobi ready to help take out my eyes." Shisui finally cracked a smile. "But both of my eyes are fine, as you can see. I've informed the Hokage, and he's keeping a careful watch on Danzo. He shouldn't try anything again, now that I know how to defend against him."

"How did you escape from him?"

"Well, since you warned me that Danzo tried to steal your Sharingan, I thought I'd observe his moves first. I placed him under genjutsu."

"He normally would have noticed it and shaken it off right away. Wow."

Shisui's Sharingan were more powerful than he thought. "Of course, he didn't realize it and we 'fought'. In the genjutsu, I struck him down. But here's the weird thing… he came out of nowhere and restarted the fight in full health."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "What kind of trick is that?"

"It's a type of genjutsu called Izanagi, which is a powerful technique that only Sharingan users can perform. I've briefly studied it," Shisui said, watching Kakashi's cat play with a passing stray cat. "It allows the user to turn real events into mere illusions, as though they had never been stabbed or injured in a fight. The only downside is that it costs them one eye."

"So that must mean Danzo has at least one Sharingan up his sleeve," Kakashi noted, not realizing how accurate his statement truly was.

Shisui nodded. "He used one up within my genjutsu, but there was no telling what else he'd be able to do. I fled the fight as soon as possible. Even if I fought against him and won, he could technically redo it over and over again. And I'm currently studying a technique that can counter it, called the Izanami. But that's not that important right now. He has one less Sharingan, so he'll be extremely careful with his next move. We don't need to worry about him.

"I'm glad you escaped. It seems like everything is falling into place," Kakashi said cheerfully.

On their way to get some supper, the pair ran into a familiar looking ANBU shinobi. He took off his mask and greeted them with a respectful bow.

"Kakashi-senpai, I have a message for you from the Hokage," Tenzou said cheerfully. "It looks like you've been dismissed from ANBU."

They stared tentatively at the man in question, who was dumbstruck. He took a moment to stare at his wooden-jutsu friend.

"After all that…. NANI?"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE **

**This is the end of the story, which is actually a prequel to another one that I'm about to write soon. This is a very loose, basic set-up for what's about to come in the second part of the series. Please check it out when it's released! **

**Here's the general outline of it:**

A New Journey

Sequel to "the Vigilante": The Uchiha Clan's been saved, Shisui and Itachi are good friends with Kakashi, and Konoha seems to be at peace. Things are turning out differently; Itachi and Sasuke have a younger brother, Naruto doesn't live alone, and Kakashi has several reasons to keep on living. However, Kakashi soon discovers that someone isn't too happy with him and wants him erased completely, and parts of his past threaten to resurface.


End file.
